


What Hurts the Most

by NickyM96



Category: ReyEm, ReyMir - Fandom, Yemin (TV 2019)
Genre: F/M, TurkishDizi, YeminDizi - Freeform, YeminFandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:00:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 37,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24931915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NickyM96/pseuds/NickyM96
Summary: After the divorce, Reyhan is forced to return to the mansion when Hikmet takes a turn for the worst. He gets better, but when she gets a mysterious note about him still being in danger, she decides to stay to protect him and to investigate. She gets help from an unexpected source and during the course of their investigation, more secrets get uncovered than she anticipates. How does she protect her uncle while still protecting Emir from Cemre's threats? Yemin post episode 121 fic.
Relationships: Emir/Reyhan, Reyhan/Emir
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

  
  


Reyhan thought she would be okay. She thought she would be used to walking away from this house. But this time is just as hard as any of the other times. Emir's hate for her should have made it easy. But nothing about this is easy. Because as much as he hates her, she still loves him. 

After the divorce, she left with the intent on going home to Erzurum. She knew nothing would heal her broken heart, her broken spirit. But she had hoped some distance would make the pain not feel quite as ... painful. But Emir had caught her just before she left town. He forced her to come back to the mansion for the sake of her uncle. He knew she would do anything for her uncle.

So she went back. Not that she had much of a choice. She helped her uncle understand that he needed to let her go. That she needed him to let her go. Because she couldn't stay.

His condition eventually improved and the time for her to leave again arrived.

That time is now. She solemnly entrusts her dear Zeynep to Melike and makes her way down the long driveway. Her suitcase catches on some loose gravel and makes her nearly lose her grip on the bag. But she keeps walking, determined to make it to the gate. She has to get out of the gate so that no one knows how much she wants to stay. She'll allow herself a breakdown after she's away.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Emir watches her walk away again. And he can't understand the part of him that wants to run after her and drag her home. He should be used to this. This is what she does: she leaves. She's good at leaving. She left him last summer when she thought he cheated on her, no matter how much he said he didn't. Would never. And just when he thought they had finally moved past that, she left him again. Permanently. And he still doesn't know why. The divorce came out of nowhere, her only explanation was that she hated him touching her. How could he have been so wrong about her feelings for him?

When he brought her back to the mansion, he claimed it was for his father's sake. And for the most part it was. His father didn't take Reyhan's departure any better than Emir did. So for his father's sake, she had to come back. But it hurt to see her and know he couldn't touch her. That she didn't want him to touch her. Just as it hurts to see her leave now and know he can't do anything to stop her.

She stumbles, almost falling because of her suitcase and he has to stop himself from running to help her. This is what she wants: to be gone. To be away from him. He has to let her go. But he doesn't have to watch. With one last silent goodbye, he turns away from the window where he had been watching her. It's time to forget about her and the pain she's left him with. At war with himself, he can't quite walk away. But when he turns back, she's disappeared from his view. Disappeared from his life. She's gone again.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Reyhan stands at the door, gathering the nerve to go into the house. To go _back_ into the house. Again. She left not an hour ago and has no idea how to explain being back. She pulls the note out of her pocket and reads it once more: 

_Don't go! You don't know what happened to your uncle!_  
_His life is in danger! Nothing is like it seems._  
You shouldn't leave him alone.

She had reached into her purse to pull out taxi money when she found the note. Who could have left it? And why? Is her uncle really in danger? Can she take the risk in leaving him alone? Absolutely not. No matter what Emir says or thinks, she has to go back.

So she knocks on the door and goes back inside. Much to her dismay, their meeting is as bad as she thinks it will be. Maybe worse.

"What are you doing back?" he snarls at her, angry eyes staring directly into hers. All she sees is hate mixed with a little confusion. But mostly hate. It sends a physical pain to her heart.

"I didn't feel calm leaving my uncle yet," she says, deciding to go with the most basic explanation. "He still needs me."

"No one needs you." This, from Cemre. "Why don't you just leave?"

"I'm not discussing this with you, Cemre."

Reyhan hadn't even bothered to look at Cemre, which makes the woman even more upset by the rebuke. Cemre gasps, grabbing on to Emir's arm.

"Are you going to let her speak to me that way?" she whines.

Reyhan wants to roll her eyes, but she manages to keep her determined gaze locked on Emir's angry one.

Emir shakes Cemre off and makes the steps to Reyhan. He grabs her arm and pulls her towards the door.

"Let's go."

He drags her out the house before Reyhan can put up a fight.

"Emir! Let go of me! What are you doing?"

She tries to get away, but his grip is too tight. He all but drags her to his car and tosses her inside. They drive off in a cloud of flying dust and screeching tires.

"Where are you taking me?" she asks him. But she gets no answer until they reach the water. She's lowkey afraid he's about to throw her in. So she stays in the car when he gets out. He walks to and sits at one of the tables and orders two teas from the guy passing by. Only then does she get out of the car and join him.

He waits until the tea arrives before he speaks. Reyhan can see his anger churning, but he's managing to hold back the worst of it.

"Why are you trying to drive me crazy?" he asks, staring out at the water. "Why are you back? Why are you putting me through this? The family is in turmoil because of you. Is that what you wanted? To make us all suffer?"

"Emir ..."

"No. Just tell me what you want. What is it going to take to make you go away for good?"

Her breath catches on that question. She knows she's made him hate her, but it still hurts to hear him say things like that.

"I came back for my uncle," she says, repeating her explanation from earlier. But she realizes it's not a good enough explanation. She has to show him the note. After all she's put him through, he deserves at least that. Still, it's hard to let go of it once she takes it out of her pocket and slides it across the table to him.

"This was tucked in my purse," she tells him. "I found it when I was at the taxi stand. It's why I came back."

He gives her a wary look before taking the note and reading it. His eyes widen slightly before looking up at her.

"Is this for real?" he asks dubiously. "This isn't just some trick?"

"I wouldn't play with my uncle's life in this way," she snaps at him. "He's more precious to me than anything. I'm worried about him."

Reyhan watches him read the note again, studying him closely. She can tell the moment he believes. She can also see that he doesn't want to believe, but he has no choice. He's not going to risk his father's life either.

He lets out a defeated sigh before looking up at her.

"What are we going to do about it?"


	2. Chapter 2

The last thing Emir wants to do is work with Reyhan to solve the mysterious threats to his father. But he doesn’t think he’ll be able to get rid of her. He ignores the part of him that’s making his heart beat a little bit faster at the thought of being under the same roof as her again. He can’t get pulled back in. He must remember that she left him. She divorced him. She doesn’t want to be with him. He has to ignore the part that still wants to be with her. The part that still loves her.

“What are we going to do about this?” he asks her, holding up the note. “We need to figure out who left you this note so they can tell us what it means.”

“ _Don’t go! You don't know what happened to your uncle! His life is in danger! Nothing is like it seems. You shouldn't leave him alone,”_ she reads out loud. “Does it matter who sent it? We have to figure out who’s trying to hurt him. And what the danger is.”

“And that’s why we need to find out who wrote the note,” Emir explains. “They must know something if they took the time to write this and give it to you. Plus, it will eliminate a suspect. Why would they write this note if they hurt my dad?”

She thinks about it for a minute, but then just nods her head.

“You’re right,” she says. “It’s a place to start. But we do have one problem: how are we going to explain me being back? Especially after the way you just dramatically dragged me out the house.”

He wants to smile at the playful, teasing glint in her eyes. He’s forgotten how cute and funny she can be. But he squeezes his fist tight under the table, making sure his nails dig into his skin to remind him of the pain she’s likely to cause him. This is why she can’t be in the house for too long. Because it’s too easy to fall back into the old habit of loving her.

“That’s the easy part,” he says, once he gets his heart under control. “Neither of us will like it, but we’ll just pretend we’ve reconciled. On a trial basis, of course. Once we figure out who’s threatening Baba, then we’ll just say it didn’t work out and you can leave again.”

“Absolutely not!” she says. Practically screams it, actually.

The panic in her eyes sets off a warning bell in his mind, but his ego is too badly bruised to pay that much attention to it.

“Listen, Reyhan,” he tries to reason with her. “If we don’t want to waste time answering a lot of questions about why you’re back …”

“Not that,” she says shaking her head. “We can’t say that.”

She seems terrified, he realizes. And he can’t help but wonder what she’s so afraid of. But he doesn’t question her because he knows all too well that stubborn, determined look on her face. She won’t give him any more answers than she did when he begged to know why she was divorcing him. So he tries to reason with her instead.

“Reyhan … “

“Emir, we can’t. _Lütfen_. Not this,” she begs. “Let’s just not say anything to the rest of the family for right now. I’ll be spending most of my time with Dayı anyway. That should be a good enough reason to explain why I’m back.”

“Whatever,” Emir says with a sigh of impatience. And a bit of anger and disappointment. He doesn’t know why he’s surprised. She has made it clear on more than one occasion that she wants nothing to do with him. But her rejection still hurts.

“We’re done here,” he says, standing from the table. “Let’s get back to the mansion and solve this. I’d hate to make you stay somewhere you clearly don’t want to be.”

He leaves her there and goes back to the car.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Reyhan closes her eyes and sighs, trying to hold back her tears. Everything she does seems to make Emir angry. He’s right. The faster they figure out who’s trying to hurt her uncle, the faster she’ll be able to leave again. She can’t blame Emir for how he’s feeling. Everything he’s accusing her of is completely accurate, but necessary. If he ever finds out what happened the night they were kidnapped, how he killed a man, he wouldn’t be able to stand it. He’d turn himself in and the rest of the family would suffer because of her selfishness.

Pretending to be reconciled would be a disaster. Cemre would not stand for it. She’d run straight to the cops and show them the video. And everything Reyhan has given up would have been for nothing.

“I know you hate me,” she says out loud, knowing Emir can’t hear her. “But I would have hated myself if you had ended up in jail for the mess I dragged you into. All I hope is that one day you’ll be able to forgive me.”

And maybe then she’ll be able to forgive herself.

She takes a few more moments to dry any runaway tears and then joins him in the car. She has to stop herself from closing her eyes and inhaling his scent that she's missed these past few weeks. She has to tuck her hands underneath her legs to keep from reaching out to touch him. Maybe this is a mistake. Maybe being back in such close proximity to him isn’t a good idea. But it doesn’t have to be awkward, she realizes. She can try to make things a little easier.

“Listen, Emir. I know this situation is hard on both of us. But I …”

_But I what?_ she thinks to herself. _I’m sorry? I love you? I still want to be with you?_ She can’t say any of those things to him no matter how much she wants to.

So she says nothing at all.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

They get back to the house and thankfully no one is waiting on them. Because at the moment, Emir doesn’t have anything to tell them. So much has happened in the past few hours and he just needs a minute alone to process it all.

He shuts himself in his office and pulls out the note Reyhan gave him. He closes his eyes and lifts it to his nose. It still smells like her. And for just a split second, his heart is whole again. But just as quickly, reality steps back in and reminds him of the giant ball of pain his life has become because of her.

_Why, after all this, do I still love her?_ he asks himself. But he is unable to give himself an answer to that very pressing question. All he can do is do his best to ignore what he’s feeling and work with her to protect his father. His father should be his focus.

“Emir?”

Emir manages to slip the note under some papers on his desk to hide it when Cemre comes in.

“What is it, Cemre?”

“Are you okay? I can’t believe that woman had the nerve to come back here. I hope you personally put her back on the bus to her little hick town this time. Good riddance. Now, you can get on with your life. Find and marry the right woman for you this time. Who knows, she might be right under your nose.”

Cemre gives him a smile that frankly scares him a little.

“Reyhan is still here, Cemre,” he tells her. “She’s here for my father, that’s all. There’s no reason for us to have anything to do with each other.”

“She’s still here? Why?” her panicked tone confusing him. “Why are you letting this happen?”

“Calm down. Like I said, she’s here for my father. His health is the most important thing.” He gives Cemre a long, suspicious look. “Why do you care anyway? You don’t live here. If you have a problem with Reyhan being here, then just go home so you won’t have to see her.”

“I’m worried about you, Canım,” she says, quickly backing down from her previous tirade. “I know this can’t be easy on you.”

“I’ll be fine as long as my father is fine. No need to worry about me. Now if you’ll excuse me.”

He gestures towards the door and waits for her to leave. He doesn’t have time for Cemre’s foolishness today. Besides, how can he explain to her something he can’t explain to himself? How can he stop his heart from loving the woman who completely owns it?

All he can do at the moment is get Reyhan out of the house as quickly as he can. But to do that, he’s going to need reinforcements. Before he can change his mind, he takes a picture of the note and sends it to Kemal. His uncle is rarely at the mansion, so if there’s anyone trustworthy in this situation, it’ll be Kemal. He can help figure this out quickly and get Reyhan out sooner. That’ll be best for everyone.

If only Emir could make his heart realize it too.


	3. Chapter 3

Emir is surprised to hear giggling coming from his father's room the next morning. When he goes inside, he can't help but smile at the sight that greets him.

"What's going on here?" he asks, surprising Masal with his entrance. He picks her up and places a kiss on both of her cheeks. "Did you come to see me?"

"No silly. We came to see Hikmet Amca," she says, laying her head on his shoulder. "We brought him a present."

Masal points to the teddy bear sitting atop a basket of flowers on the dresser.

"Thank you, Masal," Emir smiles. "I'm sure my dad is going to love it. He'll always have someone in here to keep him company now."

Masal wriggles out of his arms and waits until he puts her down. She takes his hand and pulls him across the room to Reyhan, and takes her hand as well.

"Reyhan abla said the same thing," Masal says, tugging on both their arms. She looks up at both of them and gives them a grin that has them both shaking their heads when they realize what she wants. "Swing?"

"Masal, you know we can't do that in the house," Reyhan says.

"But we can go outside," Emir suggests, knowing he can't say no to his little cousin. Reyhan just gives him a look and shakes her head in amusement. She also knows he can't say no to Masal.

"Okay, but just for a little while," Reyhan agrees. "It'll give Kemal abi some time alone with Dayı."

Kemal just smiles and nods, keeping an eye on them until they get right outside on the veranda. He can see them from where he sits and he can't help but smile when the sounds of his child's laughter reaches his ears. She has roped Emir and Reyhan into her favorite game where they swing her between the two of them until she gets tired. But he knows his daughter and he knows she's never going to get tired.

"When are those two going to realize they still love each other and that this divorce made no sense?" Kemal asks his brother, knowing he won't get a response, but it makes him feel better to talk to him anyway. "How are you doing today? I know you're happy to see that Reyhan is back. You're not the only one. Emir is ecstatic, although he'll never admit it."

"Emir hates Reyhan."

Kemal looks up and sees that Cemre has come into the room. Her intense frown surprises him. He notes that her gaze is outside on the pair. Her frown deepens when she notices their laughter.

"Looks like he loves her," Kemal corrects Cemre. "Reyhan being back here is good for him. For them both. A love like theirs doesn't just die. It just got a little lost along the way. But they look like they're on the path to finding it again. It'll only be a matter of time."

Kemal gives Cemre another look, his suspicious nature starting to take over. But when it comes to his brother's safety, he can't be too careful. Someone in this house is trying to hurt Hikmet and he can't count anyone out. Cemre may have grown up like another daughter of the house, but something seems off with her. He'll have to tell Emir to pay closer attention to his friend. Kemal can't help but question why the woman appears to be living in the house in the first place. He may have to look into that particular situation himself. It's why Emir brought him into this little investigation. He needed someone with some distance who would be able to be more objective.

"Did you need something?" Kemal asks her, trying to get her focus off of Reyhan and Emir. "Cemre?"

"What? Um, no. I just came to ask Emir something," she claims. "But it can wait. Oh look! Flowers. They're beautiful. Let me take them and have Nigar put them into some water."

Kemal watches Cemre nervously fiddle with the teddy bear before finally handing it to him, at a loss for what to do with it. She takes the flowers and practically runs out the room, tossing one last harsh glare to Reyhan and Emir.

"Strange girl," Kemal mutters before turning his attention back to the bear. He flips the bear over and finds the hidden switch underneath. Turning it on, he sets the bear back on the dresser, making sure it - and the camera hidden inside of it - has a direct shot of Hikmet.

"We're going to figure this out, Abi," Kemal promises. "Until you can speak for yourself, this nanny cam will be my eyes and ears. Soon, we'll know exactly who has been trying to hurt you."

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kemal and Masal stay for a little bit longer, but far too soon it's time for them to go, and Emir finds himself walking them to their car. Kemal straps Masal into her car seat while Emir plants kisses on her tiny hand. It makes him a little sad because the last time Masal visited the mansion, he thought it would only be a matter of time before he'd be holding his own child in his arms. A little girl, like Masal. But with a head full of dark curls to match Reyhan's own dark tresses. Dimples on both cheeks. Huge eyes that would turn him to putty every time she looked at him.

"Are you okay?" Kemal asks him.

"It wasn't so long ago that I used to dream about being a father," Emir admits. "But that doesn't look like it's going to be happening."

"You and Reyhan have plenty of time to start a family."

"Reyhan and I no longer have a family," Emir says sadly. "Her choice, not mine. Plus, she's only here until we figure out what's going on with Baba."

"I see how you two are together, Emir. I don't think all hope is lost."

"You saw us on our best behavior for Masal's sake," Emir sighs. "She doesn't want to be here and I can't figure out how to not be angry at her."

_Or how to make her stay_ , he says to himself.

"Give it time," Kemal says, patting him on the shoulder. He gives one final wave before driving off.

_Time won't make her love me again_ , Emir thinks morosely. When her time here is up, she'll be gone again. He can't let himself forget that.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cemre waits until Reyhan finishes feeding Hikmet before she pounces.

"You think you can get around our original deal," Cemre hisses. "I see what you're doing, circling Emir again."

"What are you talking about, Cemre?" Reyhan sighs in exasperation. "Why are you even here? I'm simply minding my business and taking care of my uncle. What's your problem now?"

"My problem is you trying to get back into Emir's good graces. I saw you with him and Masal, acting like the happy little family you'll never be. Especially if he goes to jail because of you. You must want him to go to prison, is that it? You must not remember what's at stake," she threatens.

"Cemre, listen ..."

"No, you listen to me," she interrupts. "Put distance between you and Emir again. Don't test me, Reyhan. If I have to handle this on my own, you're not going to like the outcome."

Cemre storms from the room ... and runs straight into Emir. She panics, wondering if he overheard any of the conversation just now.

"Cemre? Are you okay? You look upset."

Cemre inwardly sighs in relief, realizing he didn't hear anything. So she uses this opportunity to her advantage.

"I didn't mean any harm," she says, bringing fake tears to her eyes. "But Reyhan kicked me out of Hikmet amca's room. It's like she didn't want me to see something. Isn't it funny how she insists on being here because he needs her? But she won't let anyone else near him? I'm afraid she may be doing something to him so that we only think he needs her."

"That's ridiculous, Cemre," Emir says, waving off her concerns. "Reyhan wouldn't do anything to hurt my father."

"Are you sure of that?" Cemre asks, an idea forming in her mind. She'll just have to prove him wrong. "I hope you're right about her. Especially after the way she treated you."

On that, she turns and walks away. Finally something is going her way. All she has to do is make it look like Reyhan is hurting her precious uncle and Emir will put her out faster than she can blink. Cemre lets out a laugh and wonders why she didn't think of this before. All she needs to do is be patient and wait for the perfect opportunity.


	4. Chapter 4

The perfect opportunity comes the next day when the doctor makes his weekly house call. As usual, he starts with talking to Emir about what's been going on with his father during the week. How he's been eating. If he's been responding to anything. How he's coping with his medications. And things of that nature. Then the doctor conducts an actual physical, examining Hikmet closely for any atrophying muscles or bed sores. Cemre has to hide her smile when he finds exactly what she wanted him to find.

"What's this?" the doctor asks Emir, pointing to a wound on the side of one of Hikmet's legs. "It looks like he was stabbed with a fork or something."

"That's crazy, Doctor," Emir says. But his sharp gasp at seeing the wound for himself stops any other words from coming out his mouth. Just like the doctor said, the five tiny holes would line up perfectly with a fork.

"You seem surprised," the doctor says. "Who takes care of him? Who could have done something like this?"

"We have two women who are his primary caregivers," Emir tells him. "And I handle a lot of his care myself. This wasn't here this morning when I dressed him. It must have happened shortly after."

"Who fed him?" Cemre offers helpfully. "It must have happened then."

A deep frown comes to Emir's face as he thinks and realizes who.

"Reyhan," he practically growls, storming out of the room to find her.

Cemre smiles at his reaction. She can't believe it was that easy.

After giving the doctor orders to dress the wound properly, she runs after Emir to make sure the rest of her plan goes off without a hitch.

"Reyhan," Emir bellows, searching the entire mansion for her. Cemre catches up to him when he reaches Reyhan's room. He angrily bangs on the door until she answers. Her hair is wrapped in a towel and she's wearing a robe, obviously having just gotten out of the shower. Regardless, Emir pushes his way inside anyway.

"Emir? What are you doing?" Reyhan asks, pulling the top of her robe closed.

"Why did you do it? Was this your plan? To actually damage my father just to make us believe he needed you?'

"I don't understand," Reyhan says, slightly panicking. "What's wrong with Dayı? Is he okay?"

"Like you don't already know," Cemre tosses in, trying to stir the pot.

"Cemre, I'll handle this," Emir tells her, keeping his angry glare directed at Reyhan.

"You shouldn't have to deal with something like this," Cemre says, stomping over to Reyhan's dresser. She opens the drawers and starts pulling things out, throwing them on the bed to pack. "Just put her out. She's gone too far this time. Get her suitcase to make this go faster."

"Cemre! Stop!" Reyhan screams as Cemre continues pulling out Reyhan's clothes.

"Why? Are you afraid I'll find ..."

Cemre plays it perfectly. She gasps in horror as she pulls out the next item. A fork. Wrapped in a bloody napkin. She dramatically turns and shows Emir what she's discovered. Then they both look at Reyhan.

"You actually did it," Cemre says. "You actually stabbed Hikmet amca."

"What?" Reyhan shrieks. "I did no such thing."

Emir takes the fork and napkin from Cemre and just stares at it. Then he looks up at Reyhan in disgust.

"Get dressed," her orders. "And meet me in my office."

When he leaves, Cemre gives Reyhan a smug grin.

"I warned you, but you didn't listen. I told you that you wouldn't like the outcome if I had to get involved."

"You did this," Reyhan says as a statement more than a question. "You're insane, Cemre."

"And you're done here," Cemre shoots back. "Pack your bags for the last time."

Cemre gives her one last look before leaving to let her get dressed. Then she runs to tell Cavidan the good news that she's finally gotten rid of Reyhan, once and for all.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I didn't do this," Reyhan says as soon as she walks into the office. "You have to believe me."

Emir stares long and hard at her. He doesn't know what to believe.

"Then how do you explain that?"

He points to the bloody napkin and fork.

"Emir, do you really believe I took a fork and stabbed my uncle? On purpose? Why would I do that? Why would anybody do that?"

She has a point. But it all seems clear. His father was stabbed. She has the bloody weapon in her possession. Case closed ... right? Or not. Looking at her, it just doesn't feel right. He knows in his heart she wouldn't do something like this.

"Tell me something," he says. "Is this note real?"

He holds up the note she gave him about his father being in danger. She just stares at him for a long minute.

"Are you accusing me purposely hurting my uncle? And then pretending about his life being in danger? Is that what you're saying?"

"Did you feed him this morning?" Emir asks, ignoring the hurt, defeated look on her face. "After I changed his clothes?"

She shakes her head.

"Not today, no. I usually do," she adds. "But today I knew he had his doctor's appointment and he's never very happy afterwards. I wanted to make him something special for lunch. I went to the store with Nigar to make sure I got all the ingredients I needed. I came home, showered, and then all this happened. I haven't even seen my uncle today yet."

"And the wound definitely wasn't there when I changed him. So it happened today after I left him," Emir tells her, giving her an apologetic gaze when he realized she couldn't have done it. "I'm sorry I blamed you."

She doesn't say anything. She doesn't even look at him.

"Can I go now?" she asks after a moment.

"Reyhan, I ..."

"Let's just forget about this," she interrupts him, holding up her hand. "Because if you think I can do something this horrific to my uncle, then it's clear you never knew me."

"What else was I supposed to think?"

"That's just it!" she yells. "You didn't think! You just bought into whatever nonsense someone told you, I'm guessing Cemre this time."

She pauses for deep breath to calm herself.

"But that's how it always happens. Just when you start to think the best of me, something just so happens to come up and you end up thinking the worst of me. I'm used to this. I'm used to you not trusting me. Or your heart."

She leaves him alone in his office and he's more than a little bit confused. He can't figure out what she means by _this is how it always happens_. And he knows he won't figure it out alone.

He gets his keys and heads for the door.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I don't even know what's happening anymore," Emir says to Zafer over their drink.

He had called his friend and Zafer came immediately to this coffee house to meet him. Zafer has a tendency to help him make sense whenever Reyhan confuses him the most.

"You never know what's happening, my friend," Zafer laughs. "Buy Reyhan is right. You never think. You immediately believe the worst about her. I am glad to see that this time, you at least gave her a chance to explain and defend herself."

"What do you mean, this time?"

"You really have no clue," Zafer realizes, giving Emir an amazed look. "It's exactly like what Reyhan told you. That every time you start to think the best of her, something conveniently happens to make you think the worst of her. You never learn from your mistakes. Take this situation as an example ... your father was stabbed. What even made you think it was possible Reyhan was guilty of doing something that terrible?"

"Process of elimination," Emir says. "Someone hurt him after I had changed his clothes that morning. When Cemre asked who fed him his breakfast, I ..."

"And there you go," Zafer says. "Cemre planted the seed in your head."

Emir is about to deny it, but then he remembers an earlier conversation with Cemre.

_"Isn't it funny how she insists on being here because he needs her? But she won't let anyone else near him? I'm afraid she may be doing something to him so that we only think he needs her,"_ Cemre had said.

"Planting the seed," he mutters, more to himself than to Zafer. "Cemre actually said something earlier about Reyhan playing us."

"And coincidentally there's now a situation that proves exactly what she said," Zafer points out. "She even happened to find the evidence in Reyhan's drawer."

"Cemre set this up?"

"And he's still asking," Zafer says, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Give me a break. It's a hard thing to accept that Cemre would do something like this."

"But it's easier to believe Reyhan would stab your father? I think she loves that man more than she loves anyone."

Emir realizes that Zafer is right. For whatever reason, it was easier for Emir to believe Reyhan could do something so heinous to his father just on a bit of manipulation from Cemre. On the drive home, he finds himself wondering how many other times something like this has happened in the past. How many times has Reyhan been blameless, but set up by someone trying to make her look bad? How many times has he taken Cemre's word over Reyhan's?

Reyhan's insistence that Cemre had been giving Suna dangerous drugs comes to mind. Reyhan was so sure that she even insisted on having Suna drug tested. If he recalls accurately, Cemre was dead set against the drug test. Why? He never wondered. Once the test came back clear, they all decided to let the matter go as a misunderstanding. But could Reyhan have actually been right?

And what if it hasn't only been Cemre? Hadn't his own mother been responsible for him seeing a forged document that made him believe Reyhan had married him for money?

_"You really trust your wife ... is that right? Well you'll surely see her real face soon. Then you will know how right your mother is. I don't know what this girl did to you, how she clouded your mind. Deceived you. Son, open your eyes! This girl married you just for the money! You'll see,"_ she had said.

And almost right after that, the forged document conveniently showed up, proving just what his mother had said. Has it been that easy for them to fool him? Emir doesn't think he ever even talked to Reyhan about that document to this day. He never asked for her side of the story. If he had, he imagines she never even knew the document existed until his father confronted his mother about it.

Plant the seed, provide the proof. Reyhan is right. This is how things have always been. Their marriage was rigged from the start for her to always come out the loser. Her divorcing him suddenly doesn't seem so crazy. She never had an easy time. And he never protected her the way he should have.

"No wonder she left me," he says with a heavy sigh.

It's a miracle that she's back, even if just for his father's sake. So for her sake, he needs to hurry up and figure out this situation with his father so that she can be free like she wants. She deserves better than what he can give her. But his heart hurts at the thought of actually letting her go.

When he arrives home and walks into the house, Cemre and his mother are the first people he sees. He briefly considers confronting Cemre about how she set up Reyhan, but something stops him. He wants to see how she plays this. And also if his mother knows anything about it. He has to admit, he's seen the two with their heads huddled together more often than not from the day he married Reyhan. He can't help but wonder if they're working together.

"Oğlum, is it true? That girl tried to kill your father?" his mother starts in immediately as soon as she sees him. "Cemre says you found a weapon in her room?"

"And she's still here!" Cemre adds.

"I've spoken with Reyhan," he tells them. "She didn't do this."

"I can't believe you believe her lies," Cemre gasps.

"No, I believe the laws of physics, Cemre. Reyhan couldn't have done it because she wasn't home when my father was wounded. She and Nigar were at the store. Both Nigar and Sefer can verify. As well as the security cameras at the market. She couldn't have been in two places at once."

"Oh." A look of disappointment crosses Cemre's face, one of annoyance on his mother's.

"Yes. So that means someone else stabbed him. I'm going to have a meeting with everyone in the house to find out where everyone was at the time of the incident. I'll figure this out."

Cemre and Cavidan give each other a quick, panicked look that lasts just for a split second. But Emir sees it anyway.

"Emir, no!" Cemre quickly says. "Do you think that's necessary? I mean, what if it was just an accident? I'll poke around a bit and see what I can find out. I'll let you know. You don't worry at all about this situation. I'll take care of it."

With those last words, she rushes off, his mother not far behind her. Emir just shakes his head. Looks like he got his answer.

Now he can't stop wondering what other troubles Cemre and his mother have caused. Something tells him this is just the tip of the iceberg.


	5. Chapter 5

Nearly a week passes, and Emir and Reyhan are no closer to figuring out who’s trying to hurt Hikmet than they were when they started this secret operation. Nearly a week, and aside from the necessary check-ins with each other, Reyhan hasn’t spoken to him, still upset about the fork incident. It shouldn’t bother him. They’re divorced. And he promised her that he would have nothing to do with her when she came back this last time for his father. He just never imagined that promise would be so hard to keep.

That all changes later that afternoon. He’s walking down the hall headed towards the kitchen when he hears his name whispered from behind him.

“Emir!” the whispered voice repeats when he doesn’t stop at first. He turns to try to see through the darkness.

“Reyhan?” he says when he realizes who it is.

“Shh!” she tries to silence him, before pulling him into a dark storage room. Seconds later, he hears footsteps walk past and realizes how close they were to getting caught together.

When all is silent again, she relaxes a bit and a stream of light from a small flashlight she has in her hand turns on.

“I found something,” she says quietly, but no longer in a whisper.

He follows her across the small space and squats next to her when she points to an object wrapped in newspaper and tucked into a back corner. He pulls it out and unwraps it, his brows furrowing in thought until he recognizes what it is.

“This used to be on my father’s desk,” he says. “What is it doing here? No one has redecorated that space since long before his accident.”

“That’s the thing,” she starts. “I’m beginning to think it wasn’t an accident. I don’t think he just fell. I think he was hit. With this.”

“No, my father collapsed. He fell and hit his head on the desk.” But as Emir is saying it out loud, a new light of suspicion shining on it, that version of events is starting to make less sense to him.

“Think about it,” she continues. “His wound is on the back of his head. As if someone came up behind him and hit him. That injury couldn’t have come from him being alone in his office and simply collapsing.”

“Someone did this to him,” he realizes, believing what she’s saying. It makes sense.

“We need to get this to the police,” she says. “Unfortunately it could have anyone’s fingerprints on it. So it won’t help in figuring out who hit him. But it may have traces of his blood on it. Then we’ll know for sure what happened.”

Emir shakes his head.

“No police,” he says. “Any possible answers to our questions won’t be good. Involving the police right now will only make things worse.”

He lets out a heavy, grief filled sigh.

“This is my fault,” he says. “Too much has happened around here that I’ve never questioned. But if this is true, if someone in this household did this to my father, then what kind of people are we? How can that person live with themselves, seeing every day what they did to my father? He may never be the same again.”

One of the biggest problems is that after eliminating himself and Reyhan, very few possible suspects remain. And the idea that any of them could be guilty of this is unfathomable. But he has to start considering the fact that someone did that. Someone still in this house.

She puts her hand in his to comfort him, and he finds himself not wanting to let it go. It feels good. It feels right. But their moment is interrupted when the door begins to open. Panicking, he shoves her into the dark corner and covers her body with his. They both go stone still, barely even breathing. Peeking around the corner, Emir notes that Melike has come into the storage room just to get a jar of tomatoes. She never sees them.

They both let out the breath they were holding when she leaves again, tomatoes retrieved.

“That was close,” Reyhan whispers, being careful not to be heard.

“Very close,” Emir agrees. But he isn’t talking about them nearly being caught. And he isn’t moving. He suddenly is very aware of the position he has put them in, bodies pressed together from head to toe. This is the closest they’ve been in a long time and he doesn’t know how to deal with the way his heart is about to burst from his chest.

Her heart is beating just as fast as his and when the tip of her tongue quickly darts out to wet her lips, he breaks.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Reyhan pours water into a glass. At least, she _tries_ to pour water into a glass. Her hands are shaking too hard to keep the pitcher steady.

_He kissed me._

The thought keeps echoing in her head. But no matter how many times she says it, she’s no closer to believing that it happened. Or that she didn’t stop it. Actively participated in it, if she’s remembering accurately. Although, that kiss left her brain scrambled. So she’s not sure what she remembers. Except her frantic escape into her uncle’s room, where she is now … unsuccessfully getting water.

“Reyhan? Kızım?”

Reyhan jumps and squeaks out a little scream at Melike’s greeting. The glass drops out of her hand and crashes on the floor.

“Are you alright?” Melike asks, pushing Reyhan aside. “Let me clean this up. You’ll cut yourself.”

“I’m sorry,” Reyhan says. “You startled me.”

Melike pauses in her sweeping to give Reyhan a look.

“I called you several times, but you were too distracted. Red cheeks. Goofy smile. Rubbing your lips,” she teases. “What have you been doing, I wonder.”

“Melike abla!” Reyhan says with a gasp, looking around to make sure they have privacy. She crosses the room and makes sure the door is closed just to be on the safe side. “Don’t say things like that.”

Melike just smiles and finishes cleaning the glass. Then she takes another glass from Hikmet’s bedside table and fills it with water, giving it to Reyhan.

“Drink. Cool down. Then tell me what happened while I feed your uncle.”

Reyhan just sighs. She wishes she could tell Melike what’s going on. That kiss left her in turmoil and she doesn’t know how much more of this she can take. Not being with Emir is suddenly very hard. It was tolerable when she thought he hated her, that hatred a physical barrier between them. But this kiss tore that wall down.

“I don’t know where to begin,” Reyhan tells her.

“How about with this … you still love Emir.” Melike states it as a fact rather than a question.

Reyhan reluctantly nods. She can’t deny it.

“Then why did you divorce him? It clearly wasn’t because you didn’t love him.”

Reyhan is silent for a long time, not knowing what to say.

“Did he do something to you?” Melike asks cautiously. “Did he hurt you? Did he …”

“No!” Reyhan stops her, her eyes wide with shock at the very idea. “Emir would never!”

“Then why, Kızım? Why break him like this?”

Reyhan takes a deep breath, trying to hold in her tears. She knows the divorce hurt him. Confused him. But to hear Melike describe him as broken is more than Reyhan can take.

“I wasn’t trying to hurt him,” she says through her tears. “I was trying to protect him. I was trying to protect this family.”

“Kızım?”

Reyhan shakes her head, holds up her hand to stop any other questions.

“I can’t say anything more. Please, Melike abla. Don’t ask anything else. And please don’t say anything to Emir about this.”

Melike just stares long and hard at her for a while before eventually agreeing to follow her wishes.

“For now,” she nods. “But if trouble is involved, consider talking to someone, even if you can’t tell me anything. Kemal, maybe? He’s a lawyer. He may have a legal solution for whatever your problem is. He’d at least have to keep whatever you tell him confidential. And who knows. He might give you some good advice.”

Kemal abi? Could he really help? Reyhan gives Melike’s words serious thought.. She never thought of going to him. But Melike is right. He’d at least have to keep what they talk about a secret if she hires him.

“That’s a good idea, Melike abla,” Reyhan says with a smile, feeling real relief at a possible way to fix this mess. “Kemal abi might actually be able to help.”

Her relief is only momentary. The door opens and Cavidan comes in, her intense glare focused solely on Reyhan.

“Melike, I’m going to need you to get an early start on dinner,” Cavidan says, not taking her eyes off of Reyhan. “You’ll be doing everything alone for the next few days. Nigar and Sefer had a little family emergency. They’re going to be gone for a while.”

“Gone? When are they leaving?” Melike asks, standing up and gathering the remains of the meal she just finished feeding Hikmet. “I was going to send Sefer to the store later.”

“Yasin will go,” Cavidan says. “Nigar and Sefer are already gone.”

Melike leaves the room and Reyhan gets a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Cavidan is up to something. When Cavidan closes and locks the door, Reyhan knows she’s definitely in trouble. 

She never sees the first strike coming. The slap is surprising and shocks her to a momentary stillness. That moment is long enough for Cavidan to push her down.

“You think you’re so smart,” Cavidan taunts her. “Tricking my son with your lies once again. But I know the truth. I know what you’re up to.”

“Cavidan hanim. Please,” Reyhan begs her. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Oh, I know. You wouldn’t have the nerve to do something like this.” She takes a fork Melike accidentally left behind and stabs Hikmet in the same spot he was stabbed before.

“Stop!” Reyhan screams, scrambling up from the floor to try to push Cavidan away from her uncle. But Cavidan turns the fork on her. Reyhan tries to knock it out of her hand, but fails. Cavidan ends up stabbing her arm. The fork is too dull to do damage under normal circumstances. So it takes a good bit of force to break skin. The pain is unbelievable and makes Reyhan stumble backwards. She trips on the edge of the carpet and ends up hitting her head on the arm of a chair. She blinks away the stars, but fortunately stays conscious.

“You dare attack me?” Cavidan asks, tossing the fork and moving across to where Reyhan is. She begins to kick her. “When are you going to learn that I can do anything I want? This is my house!” 

“Please,” Reyhan begs again. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Wrong answer! You stabbed your uncle. Then you made Nigar and Sefer lie for you. That is what you’re going to tell Emir.” Cavidan kicks at her again.

“I’m not going to lie to him,” Reyhan sobs, blocking the next kick.

“Oh really? You lied to him before to get him to divorce you,” Cavidan sneers, laughing at Reyhan’s look of surprise. “Yes, I know all about your deal with Cemre. You can’t think she was smart enough to come up with that plan.”

“You’re a part of this? A part of sending your son to jail?” Reyhan gasps, partly from disbelief, partly from the pain from her injuries.

“Please,” Cavidan scoffs. “I knew good and well you would never allow that. Just like I know good and well you’re going to confess to Emir that you stabbed your uncle. Even if to only stop me from doing this again. And again. And again.” Each _again_ is punctuated by yet another stab into Hikmet.

Reyhan can’t stop herself from being sick. After, she wipes her mouth and looks up at Cavidan through her tears.

“How can you be so evil? Instead of protecting your son and your family, you let Cemre blackmail me? Would you really have let her send Emir to prison?”

“I knew it wouldn’t go that far,” Cavidan says with a shrug. “I knew you would never let it happen.”

Reyhan closes her eyes and cries. Because no matter what just happened here, Cavidan is right. Reyhan will do anything to protect the people she loves.

“Okay,” she says through her tears. “You win. I’ll confess. Then I’ll go.”

“Of course you will, canım. I had no doubt,” Cavidan laughs before looking around the room with disgust. “Now clean this place up. You made a mess.”


	6. Chapter 6

Emir arrives home that evening to a quiet house. For about a minute, he’s able to enjoy the peace. But that’s ruined when his mother comes down the hall to greet him. Her eyes are filled with tears and Cemre is supporting her every step. Emir panics.

“Baba?”

Something must have happened to him. Emir begins to run towards the room, but Cavidan stops him.

“He’s fine. For now. But not if that girl has anything to do with it.”

“We warned you, Emir,” Cemre says. “You really have to get rid of her. She tried to hurt your father again. And when Cavidan teyze tried to stop her, she was attacked as well.”

“Cemre, I told you. Reyhan didn’t hurt my father. She wasn’t even at home at the time. She …”

“Lied,” Cavidan interrupts. “Then she made Nigar and Sefer lie for her. Those two were so terrified of her, I had to let them have a few days off. They won’t be returning until that girl is gone.”

This makes no sense. Emir saw the video from the store with his own eyes. He even checked the GPS on Reyhan’s cell phone. She was at that store at the time she said she was. What is his mother trying to do now?

“I don’t understand.” Emir paces and tries to think. But he’s going to need the whole story. From all sides. First he’ll hear what his mother and Cemre have to say. Then he’ll talk to Reyhan. Hopefully he’ll get the truth out of one of them.

“Start from the beginning,” Emir orders his mother. “Tell me everything that happened.”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Emir is shaken after Cavidan finishes her version of events. Not because he believes her. But because he doesn’t. Not one word of what she said makes any sense. And again, he thinks back on how many times in the early days of his marriage he believed stories like this because it was coming from his mother. How many things has he blamed Reyhan for just because his mother decided to arbitrarily lie?

“She just kept stabbing him,” Cavidan says, wiping what appears to be genuine tears from her eyes. “I couldn’t stop her. I managed to push her away from him, but that only made her come after me instead.”

“But why would she do any of this?” Emir asks. “I just don’t understand. She loves my father. Why would she hurt him on purpose?”

“Why has she done any of the things she’s done?” Cemre shrugs. “Why would she leave her little village and come here to marry a man she never met? Why did she divorce you just as capriciously? She’s crazy. And just wants your money.”

“And what do you think, Anne?” he asks Cavidan. “You’ve never liked her, never accepted her. Why is that?”

“She’s never been good enough for you, Son. She never knew her place. You deserve better than some maid’s daughter. She’s sneaky and greedy and tried to steal you and all our money. I’m not going to let her get away with it. It’s time for that snake to go.”

“This is unbelievable,” Emir groans, covering his face with his hands. Unbelievable that his mother would go to such lengths. And that he’s never noticed before.

“I can believe it,” Cemre says, completely misunderstanding him.

But he doesn’t correct her. They believe he believes them. If he just lets them talk, they will continue to show their true faces to him.

“That girl has always seemed like trouble,” Cemre continues. “It was a relief when she divorced you. But for some reason, she won’t stay gone. This time, she won’t have any excuse to come back.”

“This time?” Emir asks, confused at what she’s saying.

“Well, surely you won’t let her stay here any longer,” Cemre says. “Not after what she’s done.”

“I’m going to talk to her,” Emir tells them. “Let her tell her side of the story. Maybe there’s a misunderstanding. Reyhan loves my father and my father loves her. I can’t see her doing something like this.”

“Son, she’s lost her mind,” Cavidan explains. “There’s no excuse she can give.”

“Still,” he sighs, looking down at his watch. “It’s been a long day for everyone. Especially you, Anne. How about you let Cemre help you get settled and I’ll handle Reyhan tonight.”

Cemre’s eyes go wide open in shock, but Cavidan remains cool. She doesn’t even flinch. Right at that moment, his mother is starting to really scare him.

“Save the interview for tomorrow,” Cavidan suggests “Reyhan was so out of control we had to sedate her. She’ll be asleep well into the morning. How about you question her after you get home from work tomorrow?”

“Okay,” he agrees, wondering what his mother is up to now. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”

He says this knowing he has no intention of waiting. It’s clear they’re trying to keep him from talking to Reyhan. He’s more determined than ever to find out why.

“Good night.”

Cemre watches him walk down the hall towards his bedroom and manages to wait until the door closes before she lets out the breath she was holding.

“Cavidan teyze,” she whispers, afraid Emir will hear. “What are we going to do now? He’s going to talk to her. We can’t let him. Not until we’re sure of what she’ll say.”

“I’m not taking that risk,” Cavidan says. “Just like I made sure Nigar and Sefer couldn’t talk to Emir today, that girl will be gone long before Emir gets home tomorrow. I’ll make sure of it.”

And once Reyhan is gone, Hikmet can follow soon after. Then Cavidan will finally be in the position to get everything she’s always wanted.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Emir waits until long after the house falls silent to sneak into Reyhan’s room. He has to see her condition for himself. Perhaps his mother and Cemre are right and Reyhan just snapped suddenly. It’s possible. But not likely. He’d bet everything he owns that nothing his mother told him was true.

He’s had a couple of hours to think about what that means. She’s come up with such an elaborate lie about this incident, but why? And how is she telling it so convincingly? What is her purpose? What is she really trying to prove? Could she be the reason why Reyhan so suddenly and desperately wanted to divorce him? If these are the kinds of lies and schemes she had to put up with, then again, he can hardly blame her for leaving. Something tells him this isn’t the first time his mother has done something like this to Reyhan. And that whatever his mother has done, Cemre has been right there with her.

Come to think of it, whenever things have happened in the past, his mother has been so easily able to talk her way out of it. Even when he asks specifically about it.

_“Anne, I’m listening to you. How did things end up like this?”_ he had asked her.

_“Oğlum, I already told you. That maniac Vural got stuck on Suna.”_

_“He stalked Suna, but kidnapped Reyhan?”_

_“Ah, Emir. Can we just end this unpleasant topic? I’m tense enough and I’m getting a migraine.”_

_“Okay, fine. We’ll talk later.”_

But later never came. Not that time or for any other time. And now he wonders what her answer would have been to explain how Reyhan got kidnapped and no one knew about it until he just so happened to hear Cavidan talking to the kidnapper. How had the kidnapper known to call her anyway? Did she have anything to do with the kidnapping? Or any other kidnapping for that matter? A sick feeling roils in his stomach as he thinks about Zeynep’s kidnapping. The girl was taken right from the house when the security camera mysteriously went off line. Coincidence?

“Oh, Anne,” he sighs. “Are you really capable of going that far?”

A knock on his door thankfully interrupts his thoughts. He’d rather not think about these questions because he’s suddenly not sure he wants the answers. But when Zeynep sticks her head in the door, he starts to worry.

“Zeynep? What are you doing up at this hour?”

“Reyhan abla,” the girl whispers, her tears making her voice tremble. “Something’s wrong with her.”

Emir tries not to panic, but he has to keep himself from running down the hall to Reyhan’s room. He gets to the room to find Melike already there, holding back Reyhan’s hair as she’s bent over a trash can.

“What’s wrong with her?” he asks, going to kneel next to them. “Why is she getting sick like this?”

Melike takes a breath, about to speak. But then she looks over to a terrified Zeynep. Emir realizes the girl shouldn’t be seeing Reyhan like this.

“Zeynep, sweetheart. I’m going to take care of Reyhan, okay? I promise she’ll be alright. But I need you to go to Melike abla’s room, okay? Quietly. We don’t want to wake up anyone else.”

“But ….”

“Shhh,” Emir says, stroking the girl’s hair. “Look at me. I promise I’m going to take care of her. But I need to make sure you’re okay too.”

“You’ll stay with her?”

“I won’t leave her side,” he promises.

Zeynep looks at him for a few moments, but she apparently believes what she sees in his eyes. She nods and quietly leaves the room.

“Tell me,” he says to Melike. “What happened?”

For the second time that night, he gets an unbelievable story.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Reyhan is finally resting comfortably an hour later with Emir sitting in a chair nearby. Melike had helped get her cleaned up and tucked into bed. The sedative had been a strong one and Reyhan never fully woke up. So Emir had to carry her to the bathroom for Melike and then carry her back to the bed. He had been extra careful of her bruises.

_“I wasn’t in the room at the time,”_ Melike had explained when she had told him her story. _“Cavidan hanim sent me out and closed the door. But Reyhan appears to have hit her head.”_

She had shown him the lump on the side of Reyhan’s head that was probably the cause of the disorientation and nausea.

_“Concussion?”_ Emir had asked. Melike had just nodded before continuing.

_“She also has some bruising around her back and stomach. It looks like she had been kicked.”_

Emir had just closed his eyes at that point, silently cursing his mother. Nothing Reyhan could have done would have justified this kind of treatment. And then as if all that wasn’t enough, Reyhan had been sedated and locked in this room. The very last thing she needed, given her head injury and concussion. Emir had a real worry that she just might not wake up.

After getting Reyhan settled, Emir had sent Melike back to her own room to take care of Zeynep while he stayed with Reyhan. He wanted to talk to her as soon as she woke up. But he knows her version of events will be closer to Melike’s version than to his mother’s. He knows her version will be the truth.

“Please wake up,” he whispers to her. “There’s a lot we have to talk about.”

He settles into his chair, preparing himself to sit there all night if he has to. But after about twenty minutes she starts shivering uncontrollably. He gets up to tuck the blankets around her, but that doesn’t help. He even adds another blanket, but that doesn’t help either. He has one option left. He hesitates at first, but when her shivering gets nearly violent, he knows he has to help her. He kicks off his shoes and peels back her covers, climbing into the bed next to her and pulling her into his arms.

Almost instantly his warmth begins to calm her. And the feel of her in his arms melts something inside of him. He suddenly realizes that he was stupid to have ever let her go. He let his pride and ego dictate how he handled this situation. And he handled it badly.

He knows this woman. He knows everything about her. And no matter what she says, he knows she still loves him as much as he still loves her. He feels it every time she looks at him. And he felt it in that kiss. That kiss couldn’t lie. His memories from not even two weeks before she asked for the divorce aren’t lies.

_“I was very scared,”_ she had said that night, cuddled in the bed with him. In a fit of anger at his father confessing to sending a shooter after his mother, Emir had taken off in his car and nearly crashed.

_“Don't you dare drive that fast anymore. If something happened …”_

_“If something happened to me, what would you do?”_ he had interrupted her to ask.

_“Don't say that!”_

_“I'm curious. If I’m not with you, will you always be unhappy?”_

_“Always. I would always miss you. I wouldn’t be the same as before. I wouldn’t be able to breathe. Why are you asking such things? I don't want to be separated from you. I don't want to be away from you. I don't even want to think about it.”_

No, lack of love wasn’t the reason she left. All he needs to do now is figure out the real reason so that he can fix it and get her back. She may not have realized it, but coming back to the mansion was the first step. Now, he’s going to do whatever it takes to make sure she never leaves again.

“We belong together,” he whispers, kissing her gently on the forehead. “I’m not going to let anything tear us apart again.”

On that promise, he settles in to watch her for the rest of the night. There’s still a long road ahead of them, but for the first time in a long time, he has hope.


	7. Chapter 7

She begins to stir just as the sun rises. Reluctantly, he decides to get out of the bed to avoid startling her. He doesn’t want to push things with her until he can see she’s on the same page as he is. For whatever reason, she has stubbornly decided they shouldn’t be together. He’s going to have to be a bit stealthy to get around her defenses. He smiles a little at the thought. He’s going to go on full blown charm mode. She won’t know what hit her.

As he’s carefully untangling himself from her, she begins to fidget restlessly. He checks to see if she’s awake, but notices she’s still asleep with a deep frown spreading across her face.

“No,” she mutters in her sleep, her head tossing back and forth on the pillow. “I’m not leaving him. Don’t make me.”

“Reyhan?” he says gently, shaking her shoulder to try to wake her. “Wake up now. It’s just a dream.”

Or is it, he wonders to himself. Who is she fighting with?

“No … no … Emir!”

She shoots up to a sitting position, shaking like a leaf. Her breathing is so hard, he’s afraid she’s going to make herself pass out. He grabs her face and turns her head until she’s looking directly into his eyes.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay. Calm down. Breathe with me.”

She takes a few shaky breaths before she finally comes back to her senses.

“Emir?” She pulls away enough to look around to see where she is. “What are you doing here? You can’t be here with me like this. No one can see us!”

She starts to panic, looking around the room with wild eyes that are still a bit unclear and unfocused.

“Hold on,” he says gently, trying to calm her down. “Just relax. You’re going to hurt yourself. You’re still a bit unsteady from yesterday.”

She continues to panic and is borderline about to hyperventilate.

“What’s happening? Why am I here? Why are you here?”

“Shhh!” he says, cupping her face in his hands. “I’ll explain everything. But you need to breathe, Canım. You’re about to pass out.”

“Emir,” she whimpers. She closes her eyes and for a moment, allows herself to soak in his presence. To just feel him. Smell him. Hold him. His touch meant everything to her and she’s had to live without it for too long. Right now, it’s as necessary to her as her next breath. It calms and soothes her. Clears her head. So when she just barely stops herself from purring in delight, that’s when she realizes what she’s doing and tries to push him away. “We can’t do this.”

“Just a minute,” he pleads. “Let me have just this one minute. We both need this.”

Unable to deny what he’s saying, or resist him, she gives in. She’ll take this one minute with him. She closes her eyes when he rests his forehead against hers and just breathes him in.

“What are we doing?” she asks, knowing she shouldn’t want this. But also understanding that she needs it.

“Minute’s not over,” he whispers, pulling her into a hug that she’s helpless to resist. But he squeezes a bit too hard and the pain of her ribs brings her back to her senses. She gasps, and this time when she pushes him away, he sets her free.

“Are you okay? Melike abla said there was some bruising.”

“It’s fine,” she says sharply, pulling the rest of the way away from him and getting out of the bed. She wraps her own arms around herself to stop the slight shivers, cold from his sudden absence. “You should leave now.”

Emir just stares at her and frowns. But he eventually nods, not wanting to push her.

“I won’t ask you anything now,” he says. “But we need to have a long talk eventually, Reyhan. A very long talk. You being back here has shown me that we’re not over yet. I don’t know why you left, but I’m going to figure it out. And then I’m going to fix it. I’m going to fix us.”

He takes her hand and holds it to his heart and she wants to believe. More than anything, she wants to believe that things can be right again between them. But at that moment, something just outside her room catches her attention. Cemre is staring in at them, the anger on her face enough to terrify Reyhan. This isn’t good.

“You really have to go, Emir,” she says, pushing him towards the door. She peeks back over her shoulder to where she had seen Cemre staring through the window, but the woman is gone now. But she probably saw enough to make trouble for Emir. Reyhan can’t let that happen. She gave up too much for him to go to jail now.

Once Emir is out the room, Reyhan closes and locks the door behind him. She sits on the bed and drops her face into her hands, still shaking from being with him. How could she have let Emir get that close? She couldn’t help it though. She thought it was a dream at first. To wake up in his arms again has been one of her most constant wishes since the divorce. And for one sweet moment, she was able to live that wish.

Unfortunately it has given Emir hope that things can get better. But Reyhan knows things will never get better. There’s no fixing this situation. As long as Cemre has those recordings, she will always have the upper hand over Reyhan. As long as her uncle and Suna are sick, Reyhan can never risk Emir finding out what he’s done. So she’s stuck following Cemre’s rules. She’s stuck making that one perfect minute she shared with Emir last for the rest of her life.

She can only hope and pray that that minute of weakness doesn’t lead to the downfall of them all.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cavidan almost drops her coffee when Cemre comes storming into the living room, a look of death on her face.

“What’s wrong with you now, Cemre? You should be happy today. Today is the day we get rid of that girl for good.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Cemre paces angrily, kicking any and everything in her path.

“Why don’t you just calm down and tell me what she’s done now,” Cavidan sighs. “I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

“How’s this for bad? She seduced your son and lured him into her bed. I just found them all wrapped up together. In _bed_ together, Cavidan teyze. Bed!”

Cavidan frowns, realizing Cemre may be right.

“That’s not good,” she agrees somberly. “But maybe you misunderstood.”

“He was caressing her,” Cemre adds. “He was whispering soft words to her. They were about to kiss, I just know it! And who knows what they were doing all night. She’s evil. Immoral. And we have to get her out of the house. Now!”

She’s right, Cavidan admits to herself. That little peasant has more nerve than Cavidan thought. She definitely needs to go. Because if she’s getting close to Emir again, there’s a chance she’ll tell him what Cavidan has been doing. And there’s an even greater chance Emir will believe her this time. She can’t take that risk.

“Call your guys, Cemre. Once Emir leaves for work, we’ll be getting rid of our problem. Permanently.”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Earth to Emir!”

“Zafer?” Emir blinks and is shocked to see Zafer standing in front of his desk. He’s had a weird feeling nagging him for the past hour and he can’t stay focused on anything. He didn’t even notice Zafer coming into his office.

Zafer just laughs.

“Finally you notice me. You were completely zoned out, buddy. What’s going on with you? I mean, I can take a guess what’s causing your distraction. Or who, I should say. About this tall?” he says, holding his arm up to his shoulder. “Long dark hair? Big doe eyes?”

He laughs again at Emir’s scowl.

“I’m not going to ask what she’s done, because it’s usually nothing,” Zafer says, rolling his eyes in exasperation at his friend. “But what do you _think_ Reyhan has done now?”

Emir gives him an impatient glare.

“You say that like I always blame her for my problems.”

“You do!” Zafer says, still laughing. “I’m sure this time isn’t any different.”

“That’s where you’d be wrong, my friend,” Emir corrects him. “Things have changed. I’ve changed. The situation has gotten so messed up. Or maybe it’s always been messed up and I just could never see.”

Emir lets out a deep sigh and causes Zafer to frown.

“This sounds serious. What’s really going on with you?”

“I think you’ve been right this whole time,” Emir admits. “Every time I would come to you, so angry at her about things I thought she did that she clearly wouldn’t ever do. I can see that now … now that I know her. I think she’s been the victim of this terrible, sick game my mother is playing. Cemre too.”

Emir briefly tells Zafer what happened at the house recently, starting with finding the stab wound on his father and ending with waking up with Reyhan that morning. Zafer is stunned to say the least.

“So you think your mother set Reyhan up to make you believe she’s hurting your father?”

“It doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Emir shrugs. “But it makes more sense than believing Reyhan would hurt my dad. And it makes a lot of past events make more sense too. Like that time I thought Reyhan had married me for my money. Or that time when Zeynep got kidnapped, and I believed Reyhan was involved because of some anonymous pictures I received.”

“That girl who tried to say she was your mistress,” Zafer adds. “The one that made Reyhan leave. That all makes sense now.”

At Emir’s confused look, he explains.

“I never told you this, but I had someone look into that girl. Because it didn’t really make sense for her to have targeted you out of the blue. I never found anything odd except one thing … she had spent one night in lock up with Cemre. I thought it was just a coincidence. I thought she had gotten the idea to target you because she knew of your connection to Cemre. But maybe it was more than that. Maybe Cemre …” he trails off, letting Emir fill in the blanks.

“Before, I would have said no way. But now, how can I ignore any of this?” Emir asks. “This is all so unbelievable, but at the same time, so much makes sense now. Maybe even the divorce.”

“Emir, what are you saying?”

“Reyhan is terrified of something, Man. Something that scared her and forced her to leave me. To divorce me. I’m sure of it.”

“Like what?”

“I wish I knew, Zafer. I wish I knew.”

He sighs, then looks down at his watch. Too early to go home, but that weird feeling won’t quit nagging him.

“Just go. Go find out,” Zafer orders him. “I’ll handle the meetings today.”

Emir only hesitates for a moment before nodding and grabbing his stuff. Something is telling him to get to Reyhan as soon as possible. He just hopes he didn’t wait too late.

Fortunately, all the traffic lights seem to be on his side, and he gets home in record time. Just as he’s about to turn onto his street, he sees Cemre’s car turn the opposite direction and continue down the street. He watches with curiosity as she parks behind a dark van.

“What is she up to now?” he wonders aloud, staying out of sight to observe. He’s shocked to see Cemre pulling Reyhan out of the car. Reyhan appears to be stumbling and struggling to stay on her feet, as if she’d been drugged again. Three large men get out of the van and take her from Cemre. A fourth takes Reyhan’s suitcase.

“No!” Emir shouts, putting the car in gear. But he stops a minute and thinks. There’s no way he’ll be able to fight off all the men, especially if they have weapons. If weapons are involved, there’s the distinct possibility that both he and Reyhan will end up dead. He calls for help instead, keeping the police on the line while he follows the van.

“Please help her,” he begs the police as he continues to follow the van. He can’t let it get out of his sight. “I don’t know who they are or why they’re doing this. But they took her against her will.”

He continues to give them details on the van: the color, the license plate, the direction they’re travelling. And he’s relieved after the longest twenty minutes of his life to see approaching cop cars with their lights flashing. They stop the van without too much trouble, but Emir doesn’t breathe again until he sees Reyhan.

_Çok şükür._

She’s safe.

Now all that matters is keeping her that way. Even if that means he’s going to have to go against his mother and Cemre to stop their games. Reyhan, and his marriage, has been their victim for the last time. 


	8. Chapter 8

Cemre takes a deep breath as she steps into the front doors of the mansion. She lets it out as a huge grin grows on her face. She is finally free of the bane of her existence. She is finally rid of that peasant who stole Emir from her. Her life is about to get so much better now that Reyhan is gone.

Cemre wanders around the house for a few minutes before finding Cavidan in with Hikmet, the woman pretending to feed her bed ridden husband.

“I’m stuck with Hikmet duty since that peasant isn’t here taking care of him. I clearly didn’t think this plan through,” Cavidan says, frowning at the bowl of mush in her hands. She intentionally lets the contents of the spoon fall onto Hikmet’s chest.

“Isn’t that hot?” Cemre asks her.

“Probably,” Cavidan shrugs, unbothered by the possibility of Hikmet being burned by her carelessness. “What does it matter? It’s not like he’s going to say anything.”

“True,” Cemre nods, stopping in front of the mirror to check her make-up. “But we do have to be careful for awhile, so Emir doesn’t blame us for anything happening to Hikmet amca. We don’t have a scapegoat now that Reyhan is gone.”

“Gone?” Cavidan asks, her mood perking up. “You got rid of her?”

“Gave her to the guys myself,” Cemre laughs. “She’s probably halfway to Izmir by now. Hopefully they’ll dump her out at sea. Or sell her to the highest bidder. I don’t care anymore. As long as she doesn’t end up back here.”

Cemre frowns at the mess Cavidan continues to make. And she begins to wonder if this is what she wants for the rest of her life. She and Emir would probably be happier having the mansion to themselves.

“Once I’m the lady of the house, I think you and Hikmet amca might be more comfortable in a smaller home of your own. I’m sure I can get Emir to find you two someplace nice. With a nurse to take care of Hikmet amca for you.”

“You’re crazy.” Cavidan laughs. “If you think I’m going to let you take my place as lady of this manor any more than I let Reyhan do it, then you’re insane. I run this place. I am in charge. And don’t you forget that. And if you do manage to forget, then maybe I’ll forget about helping you get Emir. He’s my son. He’ll do what I say. And if I tell him some of the things you have done, he wouldn’t touch you with a ten foot pole. You can forget about marrying him.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Cemre, take it however you want to take it,” Cavidan snaps. “I don’t have time for you or your foolishness. You should go home. You’ve worn out your welcome.”

Cemre’s mouth falls wide open in shock.

“And now you’re sending me away?” she asks in disbelief. “You use me to pay for your shooter so you can frame Hikmet amca. You use me to force Reyhan to divorce and leave Emir. But now that you’ve gotten all you wanted, you’re just through with me?”

“Cemre dear, it’s not like that. We had a useful partnership,” Cavidan says. “But at the end of the day, I can tell my son anything I want and he’ll believe me. If you’re not careful, you’ll be permanently out of his life. Just like that stupid little woman he married.”

“So you don’t think Emir will believe me?” Cemre gives her a challenging stare down before nodding. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and shows the screen to Cavidan. “He may not believe me. But he’ll believe this.”

Cemre presses play on the recording.

_Cavidan: Every day in that rat hole, I only thought about how I would punish this kept woman who had created so many troubles for me. Every day, every night. I thought of everything, to the smallest detail. I kept waiting for the day when I could take revenge on her. How do you think I was able to stand living in those slums?_

_Cemre: What did you come up with? Tell me! What is your plan?_

_Cavidan: Until today, we have always tried to separate Emir from Reyhan. But the bond between them always bound them together. This time we will do such a thing that this kept woman, even if she wants to, will not be able to go a step closer to Emir. Watch and see._

_Cemre: She clings to him like a tick I can’t tear off and throw away. How do we get rid of her? I don’t understand._

_Cavidan: You’re in a hurry, Cemre. We will act patiently, step by step. Look at her.. She’s happy as long as Emir is beside her. Because she is in love. The weakest point of a woman in love is her heart. We’ll hit her right there._

Cemre stops the recording and gives Cavidan a victorious grin.

“So you see, Cavdian teyze, we’re in this together. If I go down, then you will too. Emir wll hear this recording and the police will get the recording of him killing that man. If I don’t get what I want, then nobody will have what they want.”

“You’re really willing to reveal everything to Emir just to expose me? You’d really risk sending him to prison?”

“It’s like I told Reyhan,” Cemre says. “I’d rather see him rot in prison than have to see him look at her the way he looks at her. She doubted I would actually give that recording to the police at first. But I convinced her and she divorced him. So unless you want Emir to find out what you’ve done, especially to poor Hikmet amca, you better find a way to get me what I want. I’ve waited long enough.”

“Cemre,” Cavidan impatiently sighs. “I can’t force Emir to marry you.”

“Why not? Hikmet amca forced him to marry that peasant! You promised it would be me,” Cemre reminds her. “Now that we’ve finally gotten rid of that girl, it’s time you kept your word.”

“Cemre …”

“This is my last warning,” Cemre says, before turning to walk out the room.

Cavidan grabs her head and plops down in the chair next to Hikmet’s bed.

“Now look what you’ve caused,” she snarls at him. “You should have just died already. Next time, I’ll have to do a better job.”

“Nigar!!!” she calls out, before remembering she sent Nigar away and that only Melike is home. “Melike!!! Bring me my pills. I have a headache.”

She doesn’t even wait for Melike to answer. She goes to her room to wait for the pills there, desperately in need of a quiet place to think. Cemre is turning out to be as much of a problem as Reyhan. Cavidan will cooperate with her for now. But the minute she can get rid of her, she will. Cavidan has worked too long and too hard for her plans to fall apart now.

“Melike!” she screams again.

Melike hurries into the room, pills in one hand, a glass of water in the other.

“Here you go, Cavidan hanim. I’m sorry it took so long. I was opening the door for Emir. He just got home. He’s out front talking to Cemre now.”

Cavidan tries not to panic, but she can’t help but wonder what Cemre will do.

_That crazy girl better keep her mouth shut_ , Cavidan thinks to herself. _Or else she’ll make a murderer out of me._

Cavidan will kill Cemre if necessary. She’s come too far. Nothing is going to stop her now.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cemre is there to greet him when he walks in the door.

“You’re home early,” she says with a smile. “I thought you had meetings all day.”

She tries to kiss his cheek, but he manages to duck out of the way.

“I do. I left an important file here,” he explains. “I’m just running in and out. And while I’m here, I figured I’d check on Reyhan. She was kind of out of it last night. I wanted a doctor to come examine her.”

“Reyhan?” Cemre asks, playing dumb. “I’m pretty sure she isn’t here. I think I saw her leave earlier.”

“She left?” Emir decides to also act surprised. Acting as if he doesn’t know exactly what happened to Reyhan. And what Cemre did to her. “To go where?”

“I don’t know,” Cemre shrugs. “But she had her suitcase. I assumed you put her out after learning about the way she treated your mother and father. Good riddance, I say. Who knows who else she could hurt. You may have been next.”

Emir stares at her for a while and can’t believe how easily she’s lying to him. But he lets it go. For now. Now that he knows that this is all a big game to Cemre and his mother, he can be patient until their treachery is revealed. He won’t stop until he knows the whole story and has the proof to back him up.

“Okay,” he says calmly, trying to hide what he’s really feeling at the moment. Not two hours ago he saw Cemre hand Reyhan over to her kidnappers. He saw it happen with his own eyes. If he hadn’t just so happened to have been there at the exact right moment, Reyhan could be lost to him forever. The fact that Cemre is standing here lying to his face about Reyhan leaving on her own infuriates him. And it really makes him wonder how many other times in the past Cemre has lied to him. But it downright terrifies him what could have happened to Reyhan if he hadn’t been there to stop her kidnapping. Knowing that she’s safe now is the only way he can keep up this facade.

“I’m going to go get that file now.”

He heads towards the office, but stops when she calls him again.

“Will you be late?” she asks. “Do you want me to keep some dinner warm for you?”

He shivers in disgust at how she’s trying to sound like his wife, knowing good and well she just sent his actual wife to what could be her death. All without blinking an eye. Cemre is crazy in ways he never before realized.

“Don’t worry about me for dinner,” he tells her. “The meetings will run late and after, I’m going to head over to Zafer’s to watch the big match. I’ll just stay there tonight.”

“Aww, I’ll miss you, Canım” she pouts. “But I’ll make sure we have your favorites for dinner tomorrow when you get home.”

She leans in and tries to kiss him again, but again he’s able to avoid her. He’s really starting to get a clearer picture of what’s going on in Cemre’s head. She has fantasies of becoming his wife. And he’s starting to really believe his gut is right … that she had something to do with his divorce. Now, all he has to do is find out the truth and prove it. And hopefully get his wife back in the process.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When he finally manages to get out of the house, and get away from Cemre, he drives straight to Zafer’s. He told Cemre the meetings would be running late when they actually ended up being postponed to a later date. Work can wait. What’s going on with Reyhan can not.

“How is she?” he asks when he arrives at Zafer’s house.

Zafer takes him to a guest room to look in on a sleeping Reyhan. He has to remind himself that she’s safe for now. And for now, that’s all that matters to him.

“She was a little shaken at first,” Zafer explains. “Really confused. Whatever she was drugged with still had her out of it. She fell asleep shortly after you left.”

“She seems to be okay,” Emir says softly to avoid waking her. But it’s as if she sensed him. She sits up abruptly and calls out to him.

“I’m here.” He says running over to the bed and takes her hand.

She looks around, confused, and frightened. Zafer leaves quietly and closes the door to give them privacy.

“You’re safe,” he assures her. “You’re fine. We’re at Zafer’s now. I found you and brought you here.”

“Those men … “ she starts, her face paling at the memory.

He cups her cheek and gently strokes the soft skin there.

“They’re taken care of. The police have them now. They can’t hurt you anymore.”

She breathes out a sigh of relief that is short lived. She suddenly panics again.

“Police? No police!” she sobs. “Don’t call the police. Don’t let Cemre talk to the police!”

Emir is confused, but more worried about her being so agitated.

“Calm down, sweetheart,” he says. She doesn’t even notice the term of endearment he uses. She doesn’t notice when he pulls her into his arms. But she melts into him anyway and begins to calm.

“Reyhan … listen to me,” he starts, pulling back a little until he can focus on her eyes. “Cemre handed you over to kidnappers. I don’t know what she had planned for you, but it couldn’t have been anything good. I know that now. I know she’s done things to you. Terrible, unspeakable things. But I just don’t know what those things are. I need you to tell me what’s really going on, okay?

“Whether you like it or not, the police are already involved. So it’s only a matter of time before everything comes out anyway. You need to tell me whatever it is I need to know. You need to tell me what has you so frightened that you would leave me.”

Reyhan lowers her eyes, unable to look at him.

“I can’t,” she says softly, tears coming to her eyes.

“You have to,” he counters. “It’s the only way I can protect you.”

“Don’t you get it? I’m not worried about me,” she sobs. “There’s nothing more Cemre can do to hurt me any more than she already has. She’s broken me, Emir. She’s broken me down to my very core. But I won't let her hurt you. No matter what happens to me, I won’t let her hurt you.”

“Oh Baby,” he whispers, pulling her into his arms again. “What did she do to you?”

His softness, his touch, his love … it’s all too much and it tears down the last of her defenses. She cries until she has no tears left. The whole time, he just holds her.

Defeated, Reyhan tells him everything.


	9. Chapter 9

Emir is silent for a long time. It begins to worry Reyhan. Several times he opens his mouth, as if he’s about to say something. But he ends up just shaking his head and remaining silent.

“Emir?” she says cautiously, not sure what to expect. “Did you hear me?”

He just nods. And then runs his hands over his face. He heard her. He just wishes now he didn’t ask. Because now, he’ll never get her words out of his head.

_“It started on our wedding day. Cemre told me you two had been in love your whole lives and that I was stopping you from being together.”_

Lies.

_“She was the reason that psycho Vural fixated on me. She gave me Suna’s old computer and when I wasn’t aware, used it to communicate with the guy on my behalf.”_

So many lies.

_“She hired that woman to pretend to be your lover. She wanted me to believe you had cheated on me.”_

Tricks.

_“She really did drug Suna. I saw her buying the pills myself. And when I tried to take the pills to the police, she dumped them down the drain. Then she had someone alter the test results. She admitted it all to me, gloating. Telling me not to get involved in a war with her that I wouldn’t win.”_

He can’t believe he had been so blind to these games for too long. Suna could have died because of his ignorance.

_“She has a video of you killing a man. And told me that unless I divorced you, she would give the video to the police and you’d go to jail.”_

The pain he feels makes it hard to breathe. How could someone be so evil? How could someone he thought was a friend take away the thing he loves most in this world?

_“She’s in love with you and wanted me out of your life. She thought that if I left you, if I made you hate me, then she would be able to have you.”_

How is this even real life? How could this have even happened? Does this mean Reyhan left him, not because she didn’t love him, but because she did? He finally looks up at her. He looks long and hard, trying to figure out the answer.

“Are you … mad at me?” she hesitantly asks him. She tries to keep the little hitch out her voice that gives away the utter fear she’s feeling because of how he’s staring at her. She wouldn’t blame him for being mad.

But at that instant, his face relaxes. His eyes lose the coldness and when they meet her own eyes, her heart flutters. He slowly reaches out to take her hand as a tentative smile grows on his face.

“Let me just ask one question for now,” he finally says. “Do you still love me?”

She just nods, giving him her own little smile.

“No,” he says, shaking his head. His gaze is begging. Pleading. “I need to hear it.”

“I do. I love you so much, Emir. I’ve always loved you. Being without you was worse than death.”

He closes his eyes and lets out a deep breath she didn’t realize he had been holding. Tears leak from the corners of his eyes and just like that, her heart is broken again.

“Emir,” she sobs.

“Come here,” he says, pulling her into his arms. He holds her so tight that she can barely breathe, but she doesn’t mind. She’s holding on to him the same way. When she feels his warm tears on her neck, she breaks again.

“I’m sorry,” they both say, over and over as the tears continue to flow. Healing tears that start to mend both their broken hearts.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Zafer finds them like that several hours later, curled together on the bed until he can’t tell where one ends and the next begins. They’re sleeping so peacefully that he hates to wake Emir. But he has to.

He nudges his friend until one eye cracks open and squints angrily at him.

“Sorry, man. We need you out here. Your uncle is here with something he says you have to see.”

Emir looks down at the sleeping woman in his arms and his heart fills with joy. It takes a lot to convince himself to let her go, but he finally nods at Zafer and carefully gets out of bed to avoid waking Reyhan.

“This better be really important,” he says with a yawn as he follows Zafer down the hall and to the living room.

“I’d say it was a matter of life or death.”

That stops Emir in his tracks. He sees the serious look on Kemal’s face and begins to worry.

“Who’s life? What’s this about, Amca?”

“You better sit down,” Kemal suggests, pointing to a seat on the sofa next to him. “This is going to be a lot to take in.”

Emir furrows his brows in confusion, but he complies with his uncle’s order. He looks over at Zafer while sitting down.

“Do you have any idea what this is about?” Emir asks his friend, looking back and forth between his uncle and Zafer and noting the looks of extreme distress on both their faces. “You two are starting to scare me. What’s going on? Is it my father? Did something happen to Baba?”

Emir begins to panic when the other two men just look at each other again.

“Your father is fine for now,” Kemal starts. “I’ve sent Oya over there and she’s going to be staying for a few days and keeping a close eye on the situation. So you don’t have anything to worry about currently.”

“Okay, now I’m really scared.”

“You should be. It turns out, Reyhan’s intuition about your father’s safety wasn’t wrong. When you sent me a copy of the note she received, I decided I needed a constant look at what was happening around your father. Don’t be mad, but I’ve had a nanny cam watching him since the day Masal and I visited.”

“That was almost two weeks ago,” Emir says.

Kemal just nods.

“And this video shows who’s been hurting my father?”

Again, Kemal just nods.

Emir just sighs and looks at the other men again.

“Based on the looks on your faces, I have a bad feeling about what I’m about to see.”

He steadies himself for what he knows is going to be a shock and directs Kemal to play the video.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next time Reyhan wakes up, she has an initial moment of confusion, but her mind isn’t nearly as cloudy as it has been the past couple of days. All the drugs must have finally left her system. She’s feeling almost normal again, but with one exception.

She looks over to see Emir staring out the window, his body outlined by the moonlight shining into the room. She smiles, because the ache in her heart is gone. Being with him again has made everything better. Getting out of the bed, she walks quietly behind him and wraps her arms around his chest, laying her head on his back. Just because she can.

“I love you,” she whispers. Again … just because she can.

He turns and pulls her into his arms.

“I love you, too.”

His voice alerts her. He sounds upset. Looking up at him, she sees that he’s been crying.

“What is it? Dayı? Did something happen?”

“He’s fine,” Emir assures her, hugging her again. “And he will be fine from now on. I promise you.”

He lets out a heartbroken sigh.

“But there’s a problem. There’s been a problem for a while that I’ve been blind to: my mother,” he admits. “She hates him. I don’t know how long this has been going on, or when it started. Maybe when he brought you from Erzurum for me. But she hates you both with a passion and has seemingly made it her life’s mission to get rid of you both.”

He gives a humorless chuckle at the look on her face.

“This isn’t exactly news to you, I see.” He shakes his head in disbelief. “Baby, why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“Because she’s your mother,” Reyhan shrugs. “For one thing, you probably wouldn’t have believed me. For another thing, how could I say such a thing about your mother? I could handle the way she was treating me. I understood that she didn’t love me. I didn’t need her to love me as long as you loved me. Your peace of mind and happiness was the most important thing. I couldn’t let you see your mother in a bad light just because I couldn’t figure out how to get along with her. But I had no idea how she felt about your father. Are you sure?”

“Saw it with my own eyes,” he says. “Amca left a nanny cam in my father’s room. I’ve seen and heard every abusive, hateful, and horrible thing my mother has said or done to my father. I heard how my mother and Cemre plotted to make it seem like you stabbed my father. I saw how my mother beat you and threatened you to confess to me that you had in fact done it.”

“Which one of them did it?” Reyhan wants to know. “Which one of them actually stabbed him?”

“My mother. Cemre was too squeamish,” Emir says flatly. He’s accepted it all. But at the same time, he still can’t believe what has been happening this whole time. “Fun fact … but my mother actually likes to gloat to my father about how she succeeded in setting him up for her shooting.”

Reyhan is shocked speechless.

“My reaction too,” Emir laughs that humorless laugh again, shaking his head. “She hired a man to shoot her and then tell the police that my father paid him to do it. Who would even think of something that evil and diabolical? Oh wait … the same people who would think to make a fake video to blackmail you into divorcing me.”

He takes her hand and walks over to the bed where they sit.

“How did this happen? Why did this happen? Why are they doing this?” Emir asks, not really expecting an answer. Because there aren’t any answers.

Reyhan leans over and kisses him on his cheek. Then she rests her head on his shoulder. And for the moment, it’s enough for them both.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This time when she wakes up, it’s morning. And she’s alone. Emir isn’t in the bed or the room and the sun is shining through the window. She has no idea what time it is, but she feels well rested despite all the disturbing news she heard the night before.

“Günaydın!”

She sees Emir standing at the door to the bedroom, a huge smile on his face.

“Günaydın,” she smiles in return, happier than she’s been in a long time. She would only be better if she were in his arms. As if reading her mind, he comes over to the bed and wraps his arms around her. She nuzzles her nose into his neck and breathes him in. “I’ve missed this so much.”

His touch was everything to her. It nearly killed her to be without it. It tore her heart to shreds to make him believe she hated it. She doesn’t want to let him go ever again.

“As much as I love this,” he says with an awkward laugh, “we can’t stay in bed all day. At least not yet.”

“Not yet?” she asks curiously. He just smiles.

“You’ll see.” His smile gets even more mischievous the more confused she seems. “Get up. Get dressed. We’re going to be late.”

Late for what? She wonders to herself.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Three hours later, she has her answer.

“We’re getting married?” she asks when they walk into the wedding hall.

“That’s up to you,” he says, pulling her hand to his lips for a quick kiss. “We have an appointment for today. If you want we can keep it.”

“To get married?” she asks again.

“Listen,” he starts. “I know I hurt you. I know I’ve given you so many reasons to cry. But if you let me, for the rest of our life, I want to be the one to make you smile. To love you with all my heart. To make the world burn for your sake.

“I know it upset you to think I killed a man for you. But I would have. I’d die for you, Reyhan. And I definitely would kill for you. I’d do anything for your happiness. And one day, if we’re so blessed, I want to hold our children in my arms and let them know how much I love and cherish them, the same way I love and cherish the woman who gave them to me. I love you, Reyhan. More than I ever thought possible. And so much that I no longer know how to live without you. Will you marry me?”

He pulls out a stunning diamond ring that takes her breath away.

“Emir,” she gasps, staring at him, then the ring. Then back at him. “I ….. I ….. I left you.”

His heart sinks, especially when he sees her eyes fill with tears. Is she about to say no? He won’t let her. But her next words surprise him.

“How can you ever forgive me?” she asks. “How can you promise to love me after what I did to you?

“Even if you stopped loving me, I’m always going to love you,” he promises. “I know that now.”

“I never stopped loving you,” she admits. “And I never will stop loving you.”

She lifts a shaky hand and wipes the tears from her cheeks. Then she holds the hand out to him, giving him a shy glance and a tiny smile.

“Is that a yes?” he asks, his own smile returning.

“Yes! _Evet_!” she giggles, squeaking when he picks her up and spins her around. All around them, the other waiting couples in the lobby erupt into applause.

“I know this isn’t the wedding of your dreams,” he starts. But she interrupts him with a kiss.

“It is,” she assures him. “It’s a dream come true. Being back with you is everything I’ve ever wanted.”

He smiles, cupping her cheeks in his hands.

“Then let’s go get married again.”


	10. Chapter 10

Emir watches his wife sleep with the biggest smile on his face.

“My wife,” he whispers in awe, tracing her every feature with his eyes. It’s been too long since he’s been able to just look at her like this.

She doesn’t know, but that first night together, after their first wedding, he looked at her much like he’s doing now. He allowed himself that one moment in time to just drink her in. She was so sweet and pretty and pure, and his heart instantly ached for her. His first instinct was to keep her close and protect her from the world. But he was too angry and stubborn to let his traitorous heart and those renegade feelings deter him from his plans to prove his father wrong.

“If only.”

If only he had listened to his heart. If only he had gone with his feelings. If only he had protected her. Then maybe his mother and Cemre wouldn’t have been able to hurt her. Maybe he wouldn’t have hurt her the way that he did.

“I’m so sorry,” he apologizes quietly, trying to avoid waking her. But she hears him and begins to stir.

“Sorry for what?” she asks with an adorable yawn. He can’t help but smile and place a little kiss on the tip of her nose.

She sighs a contented sigh, blinking sleepy eyes at him. She cups his cheek and pulls him down to her, giving him a kiss.

“Günaydın,” she whispers, nuzzling his nose with hers. “You should be in as good a mood as I am.”

“I’m in a great mood,” he tells her, sweeping her hair from her face.

“Then what are you sorry for?” she asks again.

He lets out a heavy sigh at the return to the topic.

“You were mine to protect,” he tells her. “And I didn’t protect you. I didn’t take care of you the way I should have. I let them ruin us.”

“Emir,” she frowns. “I was the one who left. I ruined us.”

“You were just trying to protect our family. I should have realized you wouldn’t have done what you did without a reason. Our hearts beat as one,” he says, placing one hand over her heart and the other over his own heart. “I can feel you right here. That never went away. I should have known your love for me didn’t go away either.”

“How about we promise each other, right here, right now, that from now on, we will trust our hearts,” she suggests. “And remember that no matter what happens, we’ll be able to get through it together.”

She gives him a sad smile and blinks away some tears before continuing.

“So many times I thought about what would have happened if I had just trusted in us. If I had come straight to you after Cemre blackmailed me and told you about the video. But I was just so sure you would have turned yourself in. And I couldn’t face the fact of this family losing you to jail. So I gave you up instead. It never even occurred to me that Cemre had lied about the whole thing.”

“How about another promise?” he says. “Let’s remember that no matter how hopeless a situation seems, it will only be worse if we’re not together. And that if the only solution to a problem is us separating, then we look for another solution. I can’t lose you again, Reyhan.”

He hugs her when her tears start flowing more freely than before.

“I hate that I almost hate Cemre,” Reyhan admits. “I’m ashamed that I feel that way. Ashamed that I want her to hurt the way that she made me hurt. And the way that she made me hurt you.”

_You’re not the only one_ , Emir says to himself. He lets her cry herself out, but not for long. Cemre, and the anguish she caused them, doesn’t belong in their bed. Even if this particular bed only happens to be a hotel bed.

“Let’s get out of here and do something fun, maybe get something to eat,” he suggests. “I know I owe you a proper honeymoon. And one day I promise we’ll go away for at least two weeks.”

“Someplace far, far away?” she asks, her mood perking up. “Alaska is sounding pretty good right about now.”

“Alaska it is,” he says with a laugh. “Once my dad is better, we’ll take a nice, long trip to Alaska … just the two of us. Unless of course …”

He trails off, giving her a mischievous grin. He rolls them over until she’s on her back and he’s looking down at her.

“Unless what?” she asks him suspiciously.

“Well, we do have a lot of time to make up for,” he says, kissing one side of her neck. “A lot of babies to make.”

“Babies?” she giggles, his facial hair tickling her when he moves to kiss the other side of her neck. “How many babies are we talking about?”

“At least three. All girls like their beautiful mama.”

Her face flushes red at the compliment. And also when he starts nibbling at the base of her throat.

“Three … girls?” Her breath starts to catch as his hands begin to get creative below the covers. And then all thought is gone as she totally gives in to him, whatever plans they had for going out forgotten in the wake of their passion.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When they finally do get around to getting a meal, they have food delivered to the room. Emir is too unwilling to let her out of bed just yet. He knows they have to go back home sooner than either of them would like, but for now, he has her all to himself and he’s not going to waste a single second of their time alone.

“When you dragged me away for this impromptu wedding, I see now why you didn’t even bother to pack me any clothes,” she teases him, looking down at the shirt of his that she put on so she wouldn’t be completely naked.

He just laughs, not even bothering to be ashamed.

“We have to be back home today,” he says with a shrug. He leans over to place a kiss on her shoulder that the shirt doesn’t quite cover. “I know this hasn’t been the wedding and honeymoon you deserve, but I just couldn’t go another day without fixing the one thing we had control over. Not being married to you had me so that I could hardly think. I couldn’t live a normal life without you, Reyhan.”

“Me either,” she admits, stroking his cheek with her hand. “I felt like I was dying not being able to be with you. Or to just touch you whenever I wanted. I’m s….”

“Shh!” he interrupts her. “No more apologies, remember? We were both victims of that sick, twisted game my mother and Cemre were playing. But now that we know, we can be ready for whatever they throw our way. Better yet, we can refuse to live that way any longer.”

“How? We can’t just run away,” she points out. “We can’t leave my uncle in their hands. And we can’t let them get away with what they’ve done to him. Something tells me it’s even worse than what you’ve told me.”

Emir just looks away because she’s right. He had taken her from Zafer’s house before she could see the video from Kemal’s nanny cam. All she knows is the sanitized version of events that he described to her.

“I’m having a hard time believing all that my mother has done,” he says quietly. “If she hadn’t admitted it - gloated about it, actually - then I’d never think her capable of such evil. But it’s all right there on the video, and all from her own lips. She admitted to hiring the guy that shot her. If you remember, she wasn’t living at home at the time. So all of this was all her plan to make me forgive her and to let her come back home while also getting rid of my father. She hated him that much. And I never knew.”

“The worst for me is the idea that she would say such things to my uncle, knowing he can’t do anything about it. It makes sense now why he sometimes has such a sad look on his face,” Reyhan says, heart breaking at just thinking about what Hikmet has gone through. “Just think of all she’s probably said and done to him before the nanny cam got set up. Think of all she’s said and done to us! So much is starting to make more sense. So many times you were angry at me and I could never figure out why. Now I think we know why.”

“I feel like such a fool,” Emir admits with a dejected sigh. “I treated you so badly, and why? Because I didn’t want to admit to myself how quickly I had fallen for you. And every trick my mother and Cemre played made me think you were only with me for my money.”

“Emir,” she sighs, laying her head on his shoulder to comfort him and to also get comfort from him. “Despite all that they did, you know what’s so amazing? We fell in love anyway. And our love has been able to last, even throughout all their tricks. Even when they made me believe you had cheated, I couldn’t get you out of my heart and I came back to you. Even when they threatened me and made me leave you again, we fought our way back from a divorce.They have put us through so much. But you know what? We’re the winners in all of this because we have each other. No matter what they do, we end up back together.”

He smiles and kisses her on the forehead.

“And no matter what they do from now on, they won’t be able to split us apart again. I promise.” He takes her hand in his and places a kiss there as well. “I’m not letting them take you from me again.”

He’ll do whatever it takes to protect her from now on. Because if he ever loses her again, he knows he won’t survive.

But first he has to get rid of the biggest threat … Cemre. At the end of the day, his mother is his mother. He believes he can handle her now that he knows what to look out for. But Cemre is another story. She’s unpredictable and desperate and he’s afraid that one day she’ll actually physically harm Reyhan.

He would die before letting that happen.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cemre moves the vase of flowers from the table to the stand by the bed, unable to make up her mind where she wants them. She wants to make the room cheerful, but not so much that it drives Emir crazy. When this becomes her room, she will know exactly where the flowers will go. And she just knows that there will always be flowers. Emir will always buy her flowers, she’ll make sure of it. He’s going to be such a good husband to her. Even better than he was to that hillbilly he married. Because Cemre is going to be the best wife he’s ever had. He’s going to forget all about his marriage to Reyhan.

“I deserve this,” Cemre says, looking around the room. She takes a seat on the bed and leans over to sniff Emir’s pillow.

“What are you doing in here?”

Cemre jumps from the shock of being interrupted. She sends a seething glare in the direction of an angry looking Zeynep, staring at her from the doorway.

“Why are you in Emir abi’s room?” Zeynep questions her again.

“Mind your own business, kid,” Cemre snaps at her. “Before you find yourself enrolled in a nice little boarding school thousands of miles away from here.”

“Emir abi isn’t going to send me away. He promised I would always have a home here.”

“Is that so?” Cemre asks with a laugh. “I’m sure he said the same thing to Reyhan too. But look around. Reyhan isn’t here. So you better watch your mouth with me or else you’ll end up gone too.”

Cemre rolls her eyes when Zeynep storms off. That was too easy. The girl is more of a nuisance than a true bother. Not like Reyhan was. She’s not going to cause Cemre any serious problems. But maybe she really ought to look into that boarding school she threatened Zeynep with. It might take a bit more manipulation, but Cemre is sure she can get the girl sent away. One less obstacle in the path to her happy life with Emir. He’ll thank her for what she’s doing one day. She just knows it.

“Nigar!” she yells to bring the woman into the room. Nigar and Sefer returned to the mansion not long after Reyhan disappeared. Then Emir got really busy at work and hasn’t been home for the past couple of days. So Cemre has had some time to set certain things up in Emir’s room. Nigar has been her biggest helper because she knows that snitch Melike would refuse to do anything without Emir’s permission first. And Cemre doesn’t have time for that kind of interference. Because everything has to be perfect by the time Emir arrives.

“Nigar!” Cemre calls again before the woman comes scurrying into the room. “Did you manage to do what I asked you to do?”

“Yes, Cemre hanim,” Nigar says with a nod. “The throw pillows on the couch have been doused with your scent. And your picture has been placed on the dresser.”

“Perfect!” Cemre grins. She doesn’t want to over do it just yet. She just wants him to have little reminders of her so that he’s always thinking about her. He’ll be proposing in no time. “Has Emir said exactly when he’d be arriving?”

If he’s too late, Cemre could “accidentally” fall asleep on the bed so that when he gets home, he has no choice but to get into the bed with her. She can barely contain her glee at the thought of sleeping in Emir’s arms tonight. Then if she’s really lucky, they’ll get “caught” in bed together the next day and Emir will have no choice but to propose.

“We don’t know what time he’ll be home yet,” Nigar says, interrupting Cemre’s fantasies. “He said he had a couple of things to take care of, but that he’ll try to be home around dinner.”

Cemre looks at her watch and calculates the time. Just enough to do a little shopping and get to the hairdresser so that she’ll be looking her best when Emir arrives. He won’t know what hit him. If she plays her cards right, by this time tomorrow, Emir will belong to her.


	11. Chapter 11

The drive home from their mini honeymoon is made mostly in silence. Both realize their brief time in paradise is almost over. Time to get back to the real world where things won’t be so easy for them just yet. Emir especially is quiet. Contemplating. His silence makes Reyhan curious.

“What’s going on inside your head,” Reyhan wonders aloud.

“I’ve been thinking about how this all can play out,” he admits. “My mother. Cemre. What can we do about them aside from exposing their terrible deeds? We don’t really have any proof of anything. And to make matters worse, even if we call Cemre’s bluff about that so called video of me killing that guy, what if she calls our bluff right back? What if she gives that video to the police? It’ll be my word against a video. I’ll probably go to jail anyway.”

“We need that video,” Reyhan realizes.

“And we need time,” Emir adds. “It may take only a few days to compile all the evidence Amca has from the nanny cam as well as the testimonies of the men Cemre paid to kidnap you. Or it could take weeks. And we’ll need time to prove Cemre’s video is a fake once we find it.”

“We can’t let her know we’ve reconciled until we get that proof,” Reyhan says sadly, turning to look at him. “I don’t want to be without you for that long. I just got you back. I don’t think I can pretend I don’t love you.”

He takes her hand and brings it to his lips for a kiss.

“That’s not going to happen,” he promises. “Because I’ve come up with a solution to that particular problem. What do you say we give Cemre and my mother a taste of their own medicine? What do you say we teach those Tuzak Queens a thing or two about what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a game?”

Reyhan looks suspiciously at him. But she can’t deny that she’s intrigued.

“What exactly do you have in mind?” she asks. “What kind of game?”

He just smiles and turns to look back at the road. _This_ , he thinks to himself, _is going to be fun_.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cemre stares into the mirror, putting some finishing touches on her make up. Emir should be home any minute and she wants to be ready for him. His estimated arrival time is a little earlier than she had hoped, her idea of meeting him in bed one that she’ll have to put off for another day. But she can at least use this opportunity to make him start to see her as his future wife. She’ll make sure of it. And if he continues to resist? She’ll just have to get creative and make it so he _has_ to marry her. Her biggest obstacle is gone. Now that Reyhan is out of the picture, Emir is hers for the taking.

“Emir? Reyhan?” she hears from the front of the house. It sucks all the breath from her lungs.

_Reyhan?_ She must be hearing things. Cemre runs down the hallway to see a crowd gathering at the front door. That crowd clears and Cemre almost passes out when she sees Reyhan standing there next to Emir.

“Okay, let’s give her some space,” Emir says, his arm protectively around Reyhan.

It burns Cemre on the inside to see him touching her. Why is he touching her like this?

“What is she doing here?” Cemre finally asks, unable to hold it in any longer.

“Why is she asking that?” Reyhan asks, turning her curious gaze to Emir. “Why wouldn’t I be here?”

“Don’t worry about that now, Hayatım,” he says to her before looking up at the others. “She needs to rest. I’m going to get her settled and then come back and explain everything to everyone.”

_Hayatım_? Did he just call her Hayatım? Cemre is about to ask more questions, but she’s stunned to silence again when Emir reaches down and swoops Reyhan up into his arms. Then he carries her down the hall, not to Reyhan’s room, but to his own. Melike follows right behind them.

“What is going on?” Cemre asks Cavidan through clenched teeth. “Why is he with her? Where did he even find her?”

“I should be asking you that question!” Cavidan snaps, pulling Cemre away from the group so everyone else doesn’t hear what they’re talking about. “I thought you said you had taken care of her. How did she get away from your men?”

“I don’t know,” Cemre shrugs. “But I’m going to find out.”

She pulls out her phone to make a call.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Did you see Cemre’s face when you called me _Hayatım_?” Reyhan asks with a giggle once they get into the bedroom. “I thought she was about to blow steam out of her ears.”

Emir laughs with her.

“Emir, Oğlum. Is Reyhan okay?” Melike stares curiously at them. “She seems … to be not quite herself.”

Emir and Reyhan give each other another amused look before he sets her down on her own feet. He throws an arm over her shoulder and presses a quick kiss to the top of her head.

“I’m fine,” Reyhan says, a blush darkening her cheeks at him kissing her in front of Melike.

“But better yet, we’re fine,” he adds, a huge smile on his face. He runs his hand up and down her arm and gives her a loving gaze. She melts, and with a gentle sigh, rests her head on his shoulder.

“You two are back together?” Melike excitedly asks, causing Emir to playfully shush her.

He looks to make sure the door is closed so they have privacy. Then he lifts both his and Reyhan’s hands to show her their rings. Melike has to cover her mouth to hold in her glee filled scream.

“But no one can know. Only you,” he makes Melike swear. “Things are kind of complicated.”

“I don’t understand,” Melike says, her forehead wrinkling in confusion.

“Emir!”

It’s Cavidan, calling as she comes down the hall towards the room.

“We’re out of time,” Emir whispers. “Reyhan will explain everything to you. I have to go talk to everyone else.”

He gives Reyhan one more quick kiss before leaving them.

Reyhan blushes again when she notices Melike’s gaze on her.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Melkike starts. “I’m very happy for the two of you. But I’m also very confused. What’s going on?”

“Like Emir said … things are complicated. We’re trying to fix everything that has gotten so mixed up and messed up recently. But in order to buy some time, we have to pretend that I’m like this.”

“Like what?” Melike asks.

Reyhan just smiles.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Did you say _amnesia_?” Cavidan asks in disbelief. “You’re expecting us to believe that Reyhan has amnesia?”

“They called me from the hospital,” Emir explained. “A small, rural place about two hours from here. She doesn’t know how she ended up there. But she knew enough to give the doctors my number for them to call me. She thinks it’s two months ago, before we were divorced. The last thing she remembers is when those men kidnapped her from the hospital.”

“This can’t be for real,” Cemre says, refusing to believe Emir. “Let me talk to her. I’ll prove she’s faking this.”

“Faking? You think it’s easy to fake amnesia?” Emir asks.

“It’s easier than you think,” Cemre spits back, before realizing what she’s saying. “I mean, I can imagine it wouldn’t be that hard.”

“Well, all I ask is that you show her the same sympathy and support I showed you when you had amnesia, Cemre,” Emir reminds her.

He wants to laugh at the look on her face. Reyhan had explained to him how Cemre faked her own amnesia and he was actually shocked the woman had gone to such lengths. This plan to have Reyhan pretend to have amnesia now is perfectly poetic in a way. When he said he wanted his mother and Cemre to get a taste of their own medicine, he didn’t realize they’d be actually using some of their own tricks against them.

_“Do you really think this will work?” Reyhan had asked him when he first told her the idea. “Will they believe I actually have amnesia?”_

_Emir had thought long and hard about it. Lying is not Reyhan’s strong suit._

_“It’s not so important that they believe you have amnesia,” he had said. “They just need to believe I believe you have amnesia._

_“They’ll believe you believe,” Reyhan had said. “You believed when Cemre pretended she had amnesia. They can’t really say anything about me without giving Cemre away.”_

Looks like Reyhan turned out to be right.

“Why are you going through this charade, pretending to still be married to her?” Cavidan asks him.

“I have to. The doctors say she should remember things on her own,” Emir explains. “If she finds out that we got divorced, it might harm her. And just like when Cemre had amnesia, the doctors recommend Reyhan and I spend a lot of time together to see what she can remember.”

Cemre is seething and Emir is really having a hard time hiding his amusement at this turn of events. He only wishes Reyhan were out here to enjoy the show. She deserves the satisfaction of seeing Cavidan and Cemre get a small taste of their own medicine. Especially after all they both put her through.

“But Son … none of this is true. Reyhan left you. She divorced you. Don’t you think when she remembers that, she’ll be upset with you for letting her believe otherwise? No, I think she needs to face reality sooner rather than later. Why don’t we tell her that Cemre is now your wife? That way Reyhan will know you’re not available and to not get attached.”

“You think flat out lying to her will be better than withholding the whole truth?” Emir asks, shocked at her suggestion. “And why would I be married to Cemre? That makes no sense.”

He just laughs, then leans over to give his mother a perfunctory kiss on the cheek before leaving, calling a “good night” over his shoulder at them.

“I’m going crazy,” Cemre says after Emir is gone. “How is this girl back here? Why can’t we get rid of her?”

“Calm down,” Cavidan warns her. “We just need to take a minute and ….”

“No, Cavidan teyze! I’m tired of waiting!” Cemre rants. “I’m tired of having to see this girl live the life I’m supposed to be living. Being loved by the man who’s supposed to be loving me. Why can’t you understand that? Why can’t anyone understand what I’m going through?”

“Cemre …”

“I’m done! This game is over. I’m not playing anymore. I warned you, Cavidan teyze,” Cemre reminds her. “Either I get what I want, or everyone is going to burn.”

Cemre storms off, leaving Cavidan alone. And scared. For the first time, she’s actually terrified at what Cemre will do. She doesn’t care what happens to Reyhan or even Hikmet. But Cemre sounds like she might actually be willing to hurt Emir this time. And worse, Cavidan feels like her own life is in jeopardy. It’s time that Cemre is stopped.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Emir takes a minute to just watch Reyhan. She seems so happy and at peace. He realizes now the struggles she must have gone through because they are completely absent from her aura. And he wants to strangle Cemre for making her make such a choice. She gave everything up for him. Her heart … her happiness… her peace. Would he have done the same for her? Could he have been that selfless?

He realizes that he couldn’t have. He is too selfish and she is too vital to him. If the situation were reversed, and she killed someone for him, he would protect her at all costs. Even if it meant leaving everything and everyone behind and taking her someplace safe. As long as he had her in his life, he could keep on living. But he could never push her away. Even if it would save her.

He grabs a throw for her and walks out to where she’s sitting on the veranda.

“You’ll freeze,” he says, wrapping the throw around her.

She gives him a smile in thanks and moves over so that he can sit next to her.

“This view seems different to me for some reason,” she says, looking up at the night sky. “Almost as if the stars and moon are bigger somehow. Brighter.”

“Everything is always bigger and brighter with you around. My world without you was just … dark,” he admits after a slight pause. “The darkness weighed me down. I felt like I couldn’t breathe without you.”

“I thought I was going to die,” she whispers somberly. “My whole body ached from not feeling your touch. The very thing I used to drive you away was the very thing I realized was so necessary to me.”

Emir smiles when he notices how she has nearly curled herself around him. She was never one to initiate their contact before. But since their reconciliation, she finds any reason to be near him. Not that he’s complaining. He throws his arm around her shoulder and pulls her even closer.

“I missed this. I missed you,” he says. He holds her tighter when he feels her quaking beneath him. It takes him a minute to realize she isn’t shivering from the cold. She’s crying.

“I hurt you so much.”

The pain in her voice breaks his heart. Her gut wrenching sobs bring tears to his own eyes. He tries to comfort her, but he doesn’t know what to say because it’s true. She did hurt him. She tore his heart out and stomped it to pieces. But he hurt her too.

“I said so many things to you out of my anger at you leaving me just when I thought things couldn’t have been better between us. I just couldn’t understand how you could leave. Don’t ever do that again. Please,” he begs her, his own voice cracking. “No matter what the circumstance, don’t leave me. No matter what the problem, tell me. And together we’ll figure out how to fight it. Promise me.”

“I promise.”

“No, swear it. Swear to it on everything holy to you that you will never leave me like that again.”

She hugs him, breathing him into her soul. She’s instantly calmer. She always takes from him. But she knows now what he needs from her.

“I swear,” she whispers in his ear.

She sits back and cups his face in her hands. Pulling him towards her, she kisses him … no doubts in her mind, no hesitation. No thoughts of where they are or who might see them. Because this is what she can give him. This is what he needs - her everything. She kisses him until her lungs begin to burn and her head begins to swim. She kisses him until she feels the throw fall from her shoulders and him lifting her from her seat, pulling her onto his lap.

“Emir,” she pants, desperately trying to catch her breath when they get a small break. But this time he kisses her and she falls into the vortex once again. She feels him, eager and insistent beneath her, her own body echoing the feeling. She needs him. Now.

He touches her. In places that leave her skin burning on the outside and everything else throbbing on the inside.

“Emir,” she whimpers again, begging for something she doesn’t know how to put into words. But he thankfully understands her and sweeps her up into his arms, practically running back into the house. He lays her on the bed and covers her body with his own. And she finally feels like she’s back where she belongs. 


	12. Chapter 12

“Still?” Nigar asks, unable to keep the knowing grin off her face when Melike comes into the kitchen with the tray piled with empty dishes. “They’re still getting meals sent to the room?”

“Hush, Nigar,” Melike scolds her, but unable to contain her own smile. “They’re making up for lost time.”

“It’s been four days and we’ve barely seen either of them,” Nigar giggles. “If you ask me, I think Emir Bey is quite happy about this memory loss and he probably hopes she never remembers the divorce. I don’t think he’s even left the house to go to work! Mark my words … nine months from now, there’s going to be a baby in this mansion. You just wait and see.”

“Nigar,” Melike says with a chuckle, shaking her head. But she hopes and prays Nigar is right. A baby would be such a blessing to come out of the hard times they’ve had to endure recently.

“It looks like Emir isn’t the only one not working around here.”

Nigar drops the plate she was washing and spins around to face an irritated Cemre looming menacingly in the entry to the kitchen.

“Cemre hanım?” she says in a terrified voice. “What do you mean? We _are_ working.”

“Sounds to me like you’re gossiping,” Cemre snaps. “You know as well as I do that Emir is only pretending to still be married to Reyhan because she can’t remember. There’s no way they’re in there doing what you are insinuating. It’s slander and I should have you fired!”

“I’m sorry,” Nigar apologizes, dropping her gaze to the floor.

“Nigar, relax,” Melike orders. “Cemre, you too. You’re right. It’s nobody’s business what’s happening in that bedroom.”

“Because nothing is happening in there,” Cemre insists. Nothing _better_ be happening in there, she thinks to herself. Cemre went through a lot of trouble to split those two up. She refuses to see her work undone by a fluke bout of amnesia.

“We’ve already put breakfast away, but we can make you something if you’d like,” Melike offers, changing the subject.

Breakfast can wait. Cemre has only one thought in mind … separate Emir and Reyhan so she can figure out what’s happening with them. Amnesia or not, a reconciliation cannot happen.

“No need. I’m just here to see Emir,” Cemre tells her. “I’ll just have coffee.”

“Coffee is coming right up. But Emir really is unavailable,” Melike tells her. “He left strict instructions that he and Reyhan are not to be disturbed for any reason.”

An intense look of anger flashes on Cemre’s face before she’s able to cover it. She forces a tight smile to hide the annoyance. She’s out of patience.

“Melike,” Cemre says through gritted teeth. “Either you go get Emir, or I will. One way or another, I will be seeing him today.”

“Cemre, I’m sorry but he …”

“Now, Melike!”

“Why are you screaming, Cemre?”

Cemre spins around to find Emir standing behind her. The impatient look on his face is bordering on anger at her disturbing the household like this.

“Emir …” she starts. But he just holds up his hand to stop her.

“My office,” is all he says as he turns and walks away. She’s stunned for a moment, but quickly gathers her senses and follows.

Once they’re inside, he tells her to take a seat and closes the door. Moving behind the desk, he takes his own seat and just stares at her.

“You have my undivided attention, Cemre. What is this about?”

“Why do you seem so annoyed?” she asks, giving him a flirty smile. “I was just coming to check on you and see how you were doing with this amnesia thing. It must be hard to pretend to still be married to your ex-wife. I don’t know why you just don’t tell her the truth.”

“Because the doctor says it would be best to let her remember on her own. That’s why I’m doing this, Cemre.”

“But it’s been almost a week, Emir. How long are you going to go on with this charade?”

He gives her a curious gaze, his head tilting in question.

“I’m still not understanding why this is bothering you so much. I know where I stand with Reyhan. I’m just taking things one day at a time. She didn’t remember anything yesterday. Today, she might. We just have to wait and see. But none of this really affects you. So I’ll ask again … why is this bothering you so much?”

Cemre is starting to feel uneasy. Whatever is going on, she’s starting to lose Emir again. She can’t let that happen. She can’t let him get sucked back into that parasite’s trap.

“Because she hurt you. She divorced you,” she reminds him. “She doesn’t deserve anything from you. You should tell her the truth.”

“What if I don’t want her to know the truth? What if I don’t ever want her to remember?” he asks quietly. “Then we could go back to the life we used to have and go back to being together and happy. Cemre, Reyhan and I were so happy. So in love. Maybe this is happening so we have the chance to fix what somehow got broken between us.”

Cemre’s heart stops. This is not what she wants. Not at all. He can’t be falling back in love with her.

“But you’re divorced. That’s final.”

“Nothing is final but death, Cemre,” Emir says, standing up from his seat. “And even then I’m still going to love Reyhan.”

Cemre tries to think of something else to say, but nothing comes to mind. And her time has run out.

“Listen, you need to get going. I have a few things to do for work and I need to do them now,” Emir says as he looks at his phone. “But don’t worry about me. I know what I’m doing. I’ll be fine. Hopefully, Reyhan and I will come out of this together.”

Cemre keeps the smile frozen on her face as he ushers her out of the office. But inside she’s screaming. There is no way she’s going to sit back and allow this to happen. She’s stayed out of the mansion for the past four days because Cavidan convinced her to give the situation some time. But the way she sees it, she’s about four days too late. Reyhan has managed to get her hooks into Emir again. Reyhan may not have her memory, but perhaps it’s time Cemre reminds her of what’s at stake.

“Sorry, Emir. I know you said you didn’t want Reyhan finding out the truth. But this really is for the best.”

Watching his tail lights disappear as he leaves the mansion, she realizes what she has to do. She takes out her phone and types out the message she’s been constructing in her head these past few days. She’s sorry she won’t get to see Reyhan’s reaction this time seeing the video. But if she’s lucky, she won’t have to see Reyhan ever again after this. This time when Reyhan leaves, Cemre will personally be the one taking her. And this time, she’ll make sure that woman never comes back.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“What is this?”

Cemre just smiles and takes a sip of her coffee when her flustered enemy finally arrives. Victory! She knew the video would bring that little peasant running to meet her.

“Reyhan, Dear. Why don’t you have a seat? This really isn’t a conversation you’re going to want anyone else to overhear.”

The message Cemre sent to Reyhan earlier contained the video of Emir shooting that man along with a little cryptic note warning Reyhan she’d go to the police unless Reyhan came to the coffee house for this meeting. It worked just the way Cemre thought it would.

“Cemre, what is this?” Reyhan asks her again after sitting across from Cemre.

“That is probably ten years in prison for Emir if the police find out. It really is a shame you don’t remember our conversation from before about this. It would really save some time.”

“What do you mean by ‘ _before’_? We’ve had this conversation previously?”

“Yes, and let’s pray you’re smart enough to do the right thing again.”

Cemre reaches down into her bag and pulls out an envelope. She slides it across the table to Reyhan.

“Those are your divorce papers. You and Emir are actually no longer married,” Cemre tells her. “You left him.”

“Impossible. I would never divorce Emir,” Reyhan insists. “Not willingly.”

“I wouldn’t say you were willing, but that’s exactly what you did,” Cemre laughs. “It’s been nearly two months now. He killed this man because of you. So two months ago, you agreed to leave him in order to keep him out of prison.”

“But why was that even a choice?” Reyhan asks her. “If you have this video, why would we worry about Emir going to prison?”

“Do I have to spell everything out for you?” Cemre rolls her eyes. “You are in my way. You have stolen what belongs to me. I have to get rid of you so that I can have Emir.”

“But what good would it do to send Emir to prison? If he goes to jail, you won’t be able to have him.”

“And neither would you. If I can’t have him, then you can’t. But you know who else wouldn’t have him? His family. What would happen to dear Hikmet amca? Or Suna? Can you really be that selfish and stay if it means we all lose Emir?”

“You’re calling me selfish? Are you kidding me? You’re willing to send Emir to prison to keep him from being with me!”

“No, _you’re_ sending Emir to prison, Canım,” Cemre says with a satisfied grin. “If you don’t leave like you left before, our previous deal is off. And this video will go straight to the police.”

“You’re serious,” Reyhan says incredulously. “You actually expect me to leave.”

“Your time is wasting,” Cemre says, looking at her watch. “Last time I gave you a day to decide. This time, you have to decide now. You get in that car with me and we drive someplace far, far away and you never come back. Or I drive to the police station and give them the video. Your choice.”

Cemre decides to give her until she finishes her coffee. It’s a good cup of coffee, made better by the fact that Cemre is about to win again. She’s sure Reyhan will make the same decision she made the last time.

“I’ll do it,” Reyhan says after a long silence. “But I have one condition … I get to keep the original copy of the video. I can’t live in fear that you will decide to use the video against Emir after I’m gone.”

Cemre wants to laugh. What does it matter? The video is a fake anyway. Reyhan would know that if she bothered to just ask Emir. But Cemre also knows Reyhan won’t do that and risk Emir turning himself in. Cemre has her right where she wants her.

“Sure.” She takes a CD out of her purse and slides it across the table at Reyhan. “The video is yours.”

She takes some money out of her purse as well and leaves it on the table for their drinks.

“Now let’s go. It’s time for you to go far away and never come back.”

“I don’t think so, Cemre.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Reyhan clarifies for her. “But you are.”

Reyhan gives the CD to a man walking towards them. The man has a badge hanging from his belt and Cemre realizes too late that he’s a police officer. When she looks around, she sees that she’s surrounded by officers.

“What’s going on here?” Cemre asks.

“Blackmail is illegal, Cemre,” Reyhan tells her. “These officers want to ask you a few questions about your threats against me. And against Emir.”

Cemre tries one last time with her threats.

“Are you sure you want the police to see that video?” she asks Reyhan. But this time, her warning is tinged with desperation and fear.

“They’ve already seen it. I forwarded them the copy you sent to my phone. They’ve already verified that the video is a fake.”

Cemre tries to yank her arm from the grip the police have on her and turns to snarl at Reyhan. That little hillbilly tricked her. Her breath catches when she sees Emir has arrived too.

“But I already told them it wasn’t real. I never shot anybody, Cemre.” he says, making Cemre gasp in shock. “However ... you already knew that. You knew, but you threatened Reyhan anyway. You attacked her when she was most vulnerable and made her believe I had killed someone. How could you do that?”

“Emir, I …”

“How could you make her choose between my freedom and her love for me?” he continues blasting her. “How could you make her think she had to give up her heart just so I could remain with my family. What kind of monster are you?”

“I did it for you, Emir,” Cemre cries. “I did it because you deserve so much better than this small town country girl. I did it because we’re supposed to be together. You and me!”

“Never,” Emir says, shaking his head. “That was never going to happen. Cemre, you were like a sister to me. We grew up together and have been friends this whole time. Even if Reyhan never appeared in my life, I never would have married you. I never would have married anyone because Reyhan is the one I was waiting for. I just never knew it. She’s the love of my life. It was always going to be her or no one. Don’t you get that?”

“Emir …”

“Take her away,” Emir says to the police, not wanting to hear anything else she has to say.

“Emir, wait!” Cemre tries again. But he isn’t listening. With a breaking heart, she watches him wrap his arms around Reyhan and pull her close. The police drag her away and shove her in the back of their car. But she still can see the two of them standing as one. Standing against her. They’re both her enemy now. She’s going to make them pay.


	13. Chapter 13

When Reyhan woke up that morning, she had no idea her day would be ending this way. Ever since they remarried, it's like she's been living in a constant state of bliss. Any day she wakes up in Emir's arms is a dream come true. It's been four days since they eloped and each day has been more and more perfect. But she knew the real world would intrude eventually. She knew a day like today would eventually come.

_"The rest of the household will wonder where we are,"_ Reyhan had told Emir when they had heard Melike come to take away their dinner tray from the night before. _"We haven't seen anyone in days."_

_"Are you complaining?"_ he had teased. _"I must not be doing something right. Let me see if I can do a better job."_

He had kissed her then. And she had melted. She was very nearly convinced to spend yet another day in bed with him. But then Cemre had shown up.

Emir went out to meet her, to talk to her. She was disturbing them as well as the entire household. But his words, truthful as they were, had pushed her over the edge.

_"What if I don't want her to know the truth? What if I don't ever want her to remember?"_ he had asked her. _"Then we could go back to the life we used to have and go back to being together and happy. Cemre, Reyhan and I were so happy. So in love. Maybe this is happening so we have the chance to fix what somehow got broken between us."_

That clearly wasn't what Cemre had wanted to hear, but it couldn't be helped. She was visibly upset and the message she sent Reyhan hadn't been a surprise to either of them. Especially since Cavidan - surprisingly - had warned Emir earlier of how close to the edge Cemre was.

_"Emir, Son ... watch out for Cemre. She's not happy to see you and Reyhan back together. Even if it is just for the sake of Reyhan's amnesia. I wouldn't put it past her to go behind your back and tell Reyhan about your divorce."_

They had had plenty of warning, so Cemre's message had not been a surprise. But they were both surprised to see the video attachment of Emir supposedly shooting one of the kidnappers. It was the first time Emir had seen what scared Reyhan so much and what pushed her to divorce him. And seeing the video, he could understand how she was fooled. If he hadn't been there and knew he didn't shoot that man, he would believe this video too.

They immediately sent the video to a detective Kemal knew, and fortunately the experts were able to quickly determine it to be a fake. But having the original video source would make for a stronger case against Cemre. So Reyhan had agreed to Cemre's invitation. And by some miracle, was actually able to get the original CD from her.

So no, this is not how she saw this day going. But it is the ending they all worked so hard for. But still, watching Cemre being taken by the police leaves her with mixed emotions. She's relieved, that's for sure. Relieved that the other woman's games and tricks are finally over. But an overwhelming feeling of sadness is also there. Despite what Cemre has done, Reyhan is sad for her at the moment. Cemre's only mission in life has been to make Emir love her. Reyhan knows what it feels like when his love is absent. She can relate to the woman on that level.

"You feel guilty," Emir says, guessing her current emotional state. "After all she's done, you feel bad for her."

"All she wanted was for you to love her," Reyhan says with a shrug. "I know what that's like. During our divorce, that's all I wanted too. You not loving me made my soul ache, Emir. So if she's feeling anything like what I was feeling, then yes. I feel bad for her. And I feel bad for you that you've lost a friend. A person you've known all your life."

"She stopped being my friend a long time ago," he sighs. "What she did to you, and to us, is unforgivable."

"I pray she can get the help she needs," Reyhan adds sadly.

"Then you're a better person than me, my love. All I want is for her to be buried in a prison and never see the light of day again. You said that your soul ached when we were apart. Mine did too. I loved you and hated you all at the same time. And that is what hurt the most. Cemre did that. She took you from me. She caused that pain."

"But we're together now," Reyhan points out. "We survived whatever she did. Our love was stronger."

He just laughs and pulls her into his arms. She happily sinks into his warmth.

"You're so hopelessly optimistic, you know that?" he says, still chuckling. "But that's part of the reason I love you so much. Your beautiful heart makes everything better."

He cups her cheek and leans down to rest his forehead on hers. She's getting good at taking the good moments when they come. And right here, right now ... this is a good moment. She won't take moments like this for granted anymore.

"Let's go home," he says. "Our work here is done. And we've got to explain this to everyone."

"Explain how Cemre tricked us into getting a divorce and then how we in turn tricked her into giving us the fake evidence she had on you?" Reyhan asks with some amusement. "No one is ever going to believe us."

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Reyhan was right. No one can hardly believe their story, no matter how many times they tell it.

"How could Cemre do something like that?" Cavidan asks, causing Emir and Reyhan to just look at each other.

Now that Cemre has been handled, Cavidan is next. Her fake outrage and shock isn't fooling them. She and Cemre have been working together from day one. Reyhan and Emir know it. They just need to figure out what to do about it. But for now, dealing with Cavidan can wait. They haven't told the family the best news yet.

"So everything was fake? The amnesia? The reconciliation?" Zeynep asks sadly. But it gives them the perfect opening.

"Yes," Emir admits. "Reyhan did fake her amnesia. But ..."

He takes her hand and holds it tightly in his own, bringing it up to his lips for a kiss. She smiles sweetly at him.

"The reconciliation is real," Reyhan finishes.

"Once I found out Cemre was behind the divorce, I wasted no time making this beautiful woman mine again."

Everyone is ecstatic to hear the news. With one notable exception.

"Aren't you happy for us, Anne?" Emir asks Cavidan, holding in his amusement at the sour expression on her face.

"Son, are you sure about this? She did divorce you. Maybe you two can have a nice, long courtship and engagement this time," Cavidan suggests. "And once your father gets better, we can have the wedding. But I can't in good conscience allow this marriage now. I won't agree to it."

"I figured you would say that," Emir laughs. "That's why we eloped!"

Cavidan turns various shades of red before she finally just passes out, falling neatly into Melike's arms.

"Just leave her there," Emir tells Melike as she gently lays the woman on the couch. "She'll be fine. Let's celebrate!"

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The celebration goes on for hours. And once it finally breaks up, Emir and Reyhan take the celebration back to their own quarters. The night is nice, so they step out on the veranda and enjoy the warm, gentle breeze under the bright moonlight.

Cavidan, having left the celebration long before (after being completely ignored by everyone), stands in the shadows and watches in disgust as her son allows himself to once again be suckered by the insignificant peasant he married. Twice, apparently. She can't believe they got remarried. And without her knowing about it!

"This woman is no good," she mutters, scowling at the way Emir is wrapping himself around Reyhan. The two appear to be dancing to music that Cavidan can't hear. "Look at how she has him making a fool of himself."

Thinking back, she can't ever remember a time when she behaved in such a way with her own husband. Marriage to Hikmet had not been a love match. Her alliance with him had been mostly a way to elevate her social status. She worked hard to pull herself from the gutter where she used to live and hook a man of means like Hikmet Tarhun. He didn't have the name yet, but his holding had potential. Cavidan worked hard for the past 30 years to make sure that name became worth something. So she isn't going to let someone like Reyhan slip in and steal what she's built.

"What are you going to do about your mother?"

Cavidan leans a bit closer when she hears them start to talk about her.

"She can't stay here," Emir says with a sigh. "You see the kind of trouble that happens when she puts her mind to something. You see what happened when she joined forces with Cemre. I can't risk losing you again."

_What did that crazy girl tell him_ , Cavidan wonders to herself. _What does Emir think I've done?_

"It's true that your mother doesn't love me. But she does love you," Reyhan points out.

"Does she? How can she love me when she tried to take you away from me? She doesn't care about anything or anyone but herself. I'm not going to let her continue to tear apart this household. I'm making arrangements for her now. She won't like it, but she's left me no other choice."

_Arrangements? What arrangements_ , Cavidan wonders as anxiety grows in the pit of her stomach.

"If you think this is the right thing, then I'll support you," Reyhan says. "I'll always support you."

He smiles and leans down to kiss her. Cavidan turns away in disgust when the kiss doesn't end.

"That girl has messed with my son's head for the last time," Cavidan vows. She was too quick to dismiss Cemre's methods. The girl may be crazy, but she got results. Twice she's managed to break up this pair. She even managed to make them divorce.

But the girl is on her way to prison now. She can no longer help Cavidan. Cavidan realizes she's on her own. She has to do something about this Reyhan situation all by herself. Because if she doesn't, she runs the risk of Emir sending her away. She needs a way to change his mind. But how?

Cavidan rolls her eyes when Emir lifts Reyhan and carries her back inside. If she doesn't work fast enough, that stupid girl is going to get herself pregnant and forever cement her position in Emir's life. Cavidan can't let that happen. One way or another, she's going to get rid of Reyhan and make Emir see clearly again. This is her last chance.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"This is your last chance! This is the last time I step in and do something like this for you, Cemre," her mother scolds her.

The police wanted her in jail. But somehow Suheyla convinced them to release Cemre to her care, with the promise of taking her straight to a mental facility for treatment.

"I mean it, Cemre. The last time," Suheyla warns. "I've told you time after time to stay away from that mansion, from that family. But you just didn't listen to me."

Cemre just yawns. It's the same argument she's heard before. And it's one she's getting tired of hearing. Her mother just doesn't understand what's at stake. Her mother just doesn't want her to be happy.

"How can you expect me to leave Emir all alone with that woman?" Cemre asks. "He's defenseless against her. Who's going to protect him if not me?"

"That woman is his wife."

"Ex wife," Cemre points out.

"Only because you threatened Reyhan and made her leave him! Cemre, what were you even thinking? When are you going to realize that Emir doesn't love you. He loves Reyhan, no matter what you do to try to break them up."

"Emir belongs to me," Cemre insists. "He loves me. I just have to make him realize that we're supposed to be together."

"Oh Cemre," Suheyla sighs, shaking her head. "I've failed you. I should have noticed your obsession with Emir sooner than this. Because it's ruined your life. He doesn't love you, Cemre. Why can't you see that? He tricked you. He fooled you into thinking Reyhan had amnesia to trap you. I heard they even have already quietly remarried. Let that be the final straw. There's nothing more you can do but get over him."

_"Nothing is final but death, Cemre,"_ Emir had said to her. _"And even then I'm still going to love Reyhan."_

Cemre doesn't see as she has any other choice but to prove him wrong, prove her mother wrong. Prove everybody wrong.

"Challenge accepted, Emir," Cemre says, the odd comment making her mother look over at her.

"What?" Suheyla asks. "What challenge? Cemre, what are you talking about?"

That one moment of distraction is all Cemre needs. She grabs onto the steering wheel and pulls it hard towards her. Suheyla hits the brakes and the car goes spinning out of control. They spin and spin and spin and the last thing Cemre remembers is a tree stopping their momentum. She slips into unconsciousness with one thought in mind.

_Nothing is final but death, Cemre._

If it's death Emir wants, then it's death he'll get.


	14. Chapter 14

The next morning, Reyhan wakes up trying to catch her breath. Heart pounding, she rubs her eyes to try to wipe away the images she just saw in her dreams, but can't make sense of them. It felt like a dark presence was hovering over her. She feels like she barely escaped death.

"Nightmare," she says, trying to calm her racing heart. "Just a nightmare."

She looks over and sees that Emir isn't in the bed with her and her panic returns.

"Emir?" she calls, looking around the room for him. She doesn't see him. She scrambles out of bed and searches for him. "Emir!"

She lets out a scream when the door suddenly opens. But when she notices that it's Emir, she jumps into his arms and hugs him tightly. Only then does she start to calm down.

"Hey. What's going on? Are you okay?" he asks, holding her even tighter. "You're shaking. What happened?"

She takes a few moments to enjoy the feeling of his arms around her as her heartbeat begins to settle down again.

"I'm okay," she says when she's calmer. "Just had a dream. But it's fine. You're fine."

"I'm fine. We're both fine," he assures her.

His phone starts ringing and he glances at where it's sitting on the table, but ends up just ignoring it to keep holding her. But she figures he should probably get it.

"I'm okay now," she says, pulling away from him. "You can answer that."

It's then she notices he's fully dressed for work and her brows wrinkle in confusion.

"I need to go to the office," he explains when he sees her looking at him. "Just for a couple of hours. There's a big meeting that can no longer get delayed."

Her heart starts to race again in fear. She tries to hide it from him, but he notices anyway.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm fine. Just being silly," she shrugs, trying to laugh it off. "I'm going to miss you, that's all. This will be the first time being apart since we got back together."

He smiles and kisses her.

"You're making me want to stay home," he laughs.

But then his phone rings again and she realizes she has to let him go. They can't stay locked up in their bedroom for the rest of their lives.

"Go," she insists. "Go ahead and do what you have to do. And then hurry back to me."

She wants to walk him out, but she isn't dressed yet. So they say goodbye right there in the room. With one last kiss, he leaves her. She places her hand on her chest to try to physically calm her heart, but she can't help it. She'll be afraid until he returns. She still can't remember her dream, but she feels it was a warning of some kind.

"There's nothing to worry about," she tells herself. "Cemre is in prison. She can't hurt us anymore."

But for some reason, she can't make herself believe. Something bad is coming. She can feel it. And until Emir is back safe with her, she won't feel calm.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cavidan is startled awake and is shocked to see Cemre sitting next to her bed staring at her. She has to blink a few times to be sure the vision is real and not just some delusion. Maybe she thought about the girl so much the night before that she's seeing things now. She reaches her hand out and pokes at Cemre to be sure she's real.

"You're actually here. How?" Cavidan asks. "You were on the way to prison."

"I had some unfinished business," is all Cemre says. She gets up and stands in a hidden corner just moments before Melike enters with Cavidan's morning medicine. After Melike leaves again, Cemre comes out of hiding.

"You escaped," Cavidan guesses. "And you're here to hide."

"I'm here because it's like I said ... I have unfinished business," Cemre repeats.

"Reyhan," Cavidan nods. "She's back. She tricked us both. We can't let her get away with that."

"So you're with me?" Cemre asks, a surprised look on her face.

"I want that girl gone," Cavidan readily agrees. "I'll do whatever you say. Just get rid of her."

Cavidan is a little uneasy at the crazed look in Cemre's eyes. But she'll worry about that later. Once Cemre leaves with Reyhan, Cavidan will make sure Emir hires extra security to keep them safe. Cavidan's only desire is to get rid of Reyhan, for good this time. So for now she'll go along with whatever twisted plan that's forming in Cemre's head. Then she'll never need to see Cemre again.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cemre smiles to herself. She'll let Cavidan believe Reyhan is her only piece of unfinished business. But it's not just Reyhan. No, she's here to get rid of anyone standing in her way of getting to Emir. That includes Cavidan. The woman just doesn't know it yet.

She could have taken care of Reyhan earlier. She had the sleeping woman's neck right under her hands. She was tempted to squeeze the life out of her, right then and there. But she has other plans for the woman first. Plans that include Cavidan. She'll kill two birds with one stone. And then nothing will be in her way to getting Emir. Love is about sacrifice. She sacrificed her mother. Emir will have to sacrifice his. But afterwards, nothing will keep them apart.

"Cavidan teyze," Cemre says sweetly. "Why don't you get up, get dressed, and get ready. Then we'll go see Hikmet amca. Reyhan will be there to see him sooner or later. And that's where we'll take care of her once and for all."

"You already have a plan in mind," Cavidan figures. "What is it?"

"You'll have to trust me," Cemre smiles. "When I'm done with Reyhan this time, Emir won't want anything to do with her. Her life won't be worth anything and she won't have anything left to come back for, even if she could. I'm going to blow her life apart and burn all the pieces. And she will have to live knowing I finally took back all that she's stolen from me. Believe me, when I'm done with Reyhan, you won't ever have to worry about seeing her again."

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A weird glitch with his phone. That is what he'll remember it all boiling down to. His phone was acting up and he had to let it go through a lengthy reboot process. By the time he got to the office, it had only just finished. He was shocked to see that he had nearly a hundred missed calls and messages. But he never got the chance to read them. Because he got to hear it all first hand.

_"We have a problem."_

Kemal had grabbed him as soon as he walked through the door. He should have known something was wrong by the look on his face. He should have suspected when Kemal led him straight into his office, sitting him down at the desk.

_"There was an accident, single car."_

Zafer had been there, his hand gentle yet restraining on Emir's shoulder. As well as a couple of the bigger security guards to block the door. In hindsight, Emir appreciated the preparation on his uncle's part. Because it was entirely necessary. Emir had gone crazy.

_"Suheyla hanim was taken to the hospital. She's alive, but in a coma."_

Emir hadn't understood. Not at first. Not until Zafer explained to him that Suheyla convinced the judge to allow Cemre to go for therapy. That Cemre was in the car with her mother at the time of the accident. But that she's apparently not there now.

_"Cemre wasn't with her mother. The police don't know where she is."_

The police may not have known where she was, but Emir knew. Because she was right there on the screen of the tablet Kemal had given to him. The tablet with the live stream from the nanny cam in his father's room. No, Cemre wasn't missing. She was at his home. And that's when Emir had gone mad.

_"What's happening? Reyhan? I have to get to Reyhan!"_

Emir had kicked, fought, and screamed to get home. But Kemal, Zafer, and the guards wouldn't let him leave. Not in his crazed condition. The police were already on the way to the mansion to handle the situation. Kemal expected him to just sit and watch it all play out on the screen. Emir wasn't going to let that happen. He couldn't just sit there and do nothing.

_"I have to get home."_

Emir had begged. Pleaded. And finally convinced his uncle to take him home. To take him to Reyhan.

So now, they speed as fast as they can through the traffic.

_"I'm coming, Baby."_

He just prays he isn't too late.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Reyhan stands by the window looking out to the front of the house and wonders curiously where Melike is headed.

_Probably just a quick trip to the store_ , she imagines. Except it's a bit strange since Sefer had taken Nigar to do the shopping not an hour before.

_Maybe she's just running out to quickly get something she forgot to add to the shopping lis_ t, Reyhan tells herself. But she doesn't quite believe that theory. Something feels off. Something has felt off since she woke up that morning.

"I'm just missing Emir," she sighs quietly, dropping her head against the window.

Missing her husband is the real reason why she's standing by the window. She's waiting on him to come home. She knows that once she sees him with her own eyes, once she's in his arms again, she'll feel more at ease.

_Stop being silly, Reyhan. He'll be home when he's home_. She would laugh at herself for being so needy if she wasn't feeling his absence so viscerally. The divorce really affected her more than she thought. She has an Emir sized hole in her heart whenever he isn't around.

"Come home soon," she whispers out the window before deciding to go see her uncle to pass the time.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"She's coming!" Cavidan says quietly when she spies Reyhan walking towards Hikmet's room. "Get where she can't see you."

Cemre just nods and steps behind the door where Reyhan won't see her when she first walks in. They just need her inside the room. Then Cemre will handle everything from there.

"Is everyone out of the house?" she asks Cavidan to make sure they're alone.

Cavidan nods.

"That brat is at school. And I sent Sefer and Nigar grocery shopping," she whispers. Reyhan is getting closer and she doesn't want her to hear her. "Then I sent Yasin and Melike to a different store to get something else entirely. Everyone is gone."

"Perfect." Cemre's cold smile sends a shiver up Cavidan's spine. But she just ignores it. She'll do anything to get rid of Reyhan. Even team up with this maniac.

Reyhan walks inside the room and is startled to see Cavidan there.

"Oh," she says with surprise since Cavidan hardly ever visits. "I didn't know you were in here with my uncle. I just wanted to check on him. But I can come back later."

"No. Come in, Canım," Cavidan says with a smile that sort of scares Reyhan. But that's the last thing she notices before she's hit from behind and she falls into the darkness of unconsciousness.


	15. Chapter 15

When she comes to, Reyhan realizes she's tied to a chair. She looks to her left and sees that Cavidan is tied to a chair next to her. The woman is scowling up at the person responsible for this whole thing.

"Cemre," Reyhan gasps, shocked to see the woman. "I thought you had been arrested."

"Surprise! You thought wrong," Cemre grins. "You don't think I'll let you take what's mine that easily, do you?"

"What's going on here?" Reyhan struggles against her ropes, but finds she's tied pretty securely. But she keeps trying to wiggle free anyway. "Why are you here? Why are you doing this?"

"You're not too bright, are you?" Cemre taunts her. "I already told you. I'm here for what's mine. I'm here for Emir."

"Cemre, I'm not the one keeping you from Emir," Reyhan tries to reason with her. "Emir loves me. He doesn't love you. And no matter what you do, no matter how much you try to split us apart, we end up back together. Together and stronger."

Reyhan feels a small victory when the ropes holding her begin to give a little. If she keeps working on them, she may be able to get herself free. She just has to keep talking to Cemre. Keep her occupied.

"We know the tricks you've pulled in the past to separate us," Reyhan continues. "That lady you paid to pretend to be Emir's lover? We found out all about that. How do you expect Emir to forgive you for making him look like a cheater?"

"It was for his own good," Cemre says. "It got you away from him and showed him how little faith you had in him. If you hadn't come back, Emir was on his way to loving me."

"No, Cemre. He wasn't. He still loved me. He always has. And he always will."

"That's where you're wrong. This time, there's no way Emir will keep loving you."

That smile again. The one that makes Reyhan's blood curdle. Cemre has something planned and Reyhan knows she won't like it.

"What do you mean by _this time_?" Reyhan works even harder at loosening the ropes. She has to get away and she has to get away now.

"He forgave you for leaving him. He forgave you for divorcing him. But do you think he will forgive you for taking away the most important person in his life?"

Cemre directs her calculating gaze at Cavidan now.

"Do you think he'll forgive you for killing his mother?"

"Kill?" Cavidan squeaks. "This was not the plan, Cemre!"

Cemre just shrugs.

"Actually, it was. I just didn't tell you this part of it."

"You two are in this together," Reyhan realizes, turning to stare at Cavidan. "You let her into this house, you made sure we were alone, and then you lured me in here."

"Well now," Cemre laughs. "I guess you're not as dumb as you look. She may be even smarter than you, Cavidan teyze."

"Never," Cavidan scoffs. "Now set me free, Kızım. You got who you came for. I don't want any part in this plan any longer. Take her. Kill her. Do whatever. Just do it away from here."

Cemre turns her back on them and starts digging in a bag she left on the table next to Hikmet's bed. She looks at the man and giggles, pressing her fingers to her lips.

"Shhh! Don't ruin the surprise, Hikmet amca." She lets out a belly laugh when she notices his eyes widen in shock. "No worries, Hikmet amca. You're no threat to me. You're not in any danger."

She turns around and lifts the filled syringe so that Reyhan and Cavidan can see the deadly contents.

"If it's any consolation, Cavidan teyze, you won't even feel it happen," Cemre explains. "This drug will enter your system and slowly start to shut everything down. You'll be paralyzed. You won't be able to see anything. Hear anything. Move anything. And eventually, even your breathing will stop. It'll be like you died in your sleep."

"Cemre, no!" Cavidan screams trying to stop her crazed accomplice.

"This is the way it has to be, Cavidan teyze. Love takes sacrifice. My mother paid the price so that I can be here today. Emir will have to lose you. Then we'll only have each other. And then we can finally be together."

"You killed your own mother, Cemre? You're insane!" Reyhan yells.

Cemre storms over to her and brings her hand down hard across her face. The hit stings, but the extra jolt is just what Reyhan needed to untie that last bit of rope. Arms free, she realizes she's out of time when she sees Cemre move to stick Cavidan with the drug filled needle.

"No!" she shouts as she lunges towards Cemre, knocking her away from Cavidan. She feels a slight prick in her arm before the syringe goes flying out of Cemre's hand, crashing against the far wall. The liquid makes a blurred streak against the paint. When the spot gets more and more blurred, Reyhan has only a few seconds to realize it's actually her vision dimming.

"What's happening to me?" she asks and she can hear her words slurring together. "What did you do to me?"

Then all goes dark again.

"You idiot! You ruined my plan!" Cemre huffs, rolling the now unconscious Reyhan from off of her.

The drug is gone. Wasted. Part of it given to Reyhan, the other part destroyed. And Cavidan is still alive.

"How is she going to kill Cavidan teyze if she's already dead?" Cemre paces the floor and starts pulling at her hair. The madness is setting in fully now. "She's supposed to kill Cavidan teyze. She ruined the plan. Ruined. Ruined. Ruined."

"Cemre, dear," Cavidan starts, trying to calm her down. "Let's just come up with a new plan. Tamam? You have to leave, though. Leave right now. And leave me alive. Once help arrives, I'll tell them there was an intruder who tied me up and killed Reyhan. Both of our problems will be solved."

"You have to die," Cemre says. "That was the plan. You die and I can have Emir. _Nothing is final but death, Cemre._ That's what he told me. So you have to die. And she has to kill you so that he hates her."

"Cemre?" Cavidan says, trying to lean away from the approaching woman, but it's no use. She's still tied to the chair and can't escape. She lets out a strangled scream as Cemre's hands wrap around her throat and begins to squeeze.

"You must die! Reyhan has to kill you!" she repeats over and over while Cavidan struggles to breathe.

The pounding on the door doesn't even register in her crazed state.

"Reyhan!"

It's that shout from outside the room that stops Cemre's murderous actions and sends her reeling. That voice. The only voice that can reach her.

"Emir? No, no, no! You can't be here!" she panics when she realizes he's come home. "It's too soon!"

Cavidan tries to call out for help from her son, but Cemre covers her mouth to muffle the screams. She hits Cavidan over the head to knock her out and keep her quiet. She needs a moment to regroup, a moment to come up with yet another plan.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Reyhan!" Emir calls again, desperately trying to get to his wife. He bangs on the door to Hikmet's room when it proves to be locked. "Reyhan, let me in. Cemre, I know you're in there. It's me you want. Come out here and get me."

"Help, Emir!" he hears from inside. But it's not coming from Reyhan like he expects. It's from Cemre.

The door swings open and Cemre flies into his arms.

"She was trying to kill me! And your mother! But I stopped her."

Cemre starts to cry, but he pushes her aside and rushes inside the room where he finds his mother unconscious and tied to a chair. She appears to be breathing and he lets out a sigh of relief until he looks over to see the unconscious Reyhan.

"Reyhan! Wake up, Baby. Open your eyes for me." He gathers her into his arms and tries to rouse her, but without any success. Eyes filled with burning anger stare daggers into Cemre. "What did you do to her?"

"She was trying to kill your mother," Cemre lies again. "I stopped her."

Just then, the room fills with police and Cemre panics when they grab her.

"Let go of me! I'm the victim here! Emir, tell them!"

Her cries fall on deaf ears. Emir isn't paying her any attention, his full attention on Reyhan. He's begging and pleading with her to wake up while paramedics begin to enter.

"Sir, let us take care of her," they say to Emir, having to pry Reyhan out of his arms. He tries to follow them, but ends up sinking to his knees, his legs too weak to support him.

He was too late. He couldn't save Reyhan because he was too late.

"Emir," he hears his uncle say as he lifts Emir to his feet. "Let's go. We'll follow the ambulance to the hospital."

"I was too late," he says to Kemal. "Too late."

"Don't say that," Kemal snaps at him. "Pull yourself together. Reyhan needs you. Don't let her down. Now let's go!"

Emir follows his uncle's orders, but he fears the worst. He fears that he's about to truly become a killer. Because if Reyhan doesn't make it, then he knows for a fact he won't let Cemre live. He'll kill her with his bare hands if he has to. But she won't be seeing another day if his wife doesn't.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Reyhan is given something to counteract the drug in her system in the ambulance. So by the time she reaches the hospital, she's still unconscious, but stable.

_"It doesn't appear she got a full dose,"_ the doctor had told Emir. _"But she did get quite a bit for her size. So it may take her awhile to wake up."_

That was nearly two hours ago. Emir is still waiting on her to wake up.

"Oh Baby," he sighs, taking her hand in his own. "What did she do to you?"

He can't help but wonder why he keeps having to ask himself that question. Cemre and his mother have caused so much damage in such a short amount of time. And Reyhan is always the victim. She did nothing to deserve this treatment from them. But Emir is going to make sure they pay. They've gotten away with everything for far too long.

He looks up from his spot next to Reyhan's bed when the door cracks open. It's Kemal.

"You have a minute?"

Emir just nods, signaling to Kemal to come in. Kemal walks over to the bed and stares down at Reyhan, gently brushing a strand of hair from out her face.

"Get well soon, Kızım," he whispers to her. Then he looks up at Emir. "How is she?"

"The doctor says she's going to be fine. They were able to counteract the drug and it doesn't appear that any internal damage occurred," Emir explains. "We just have to wait on her to wake up."

"That's good," Kemal sighs in relief. "How about you? You look tired."

"I am tired," he answers honestly. "And I feel like all of this is my fault. I took her to be my wife as a challenge. I blamed her for everything that went wrong in my life. But really, I'm the reason for everything wrong in _her_ life. I didn't take care of her the way I should have. And this is what happened to her. All because of me."

"Not because of you," Kemal insists, trying to comfort him. "None of this is your fault."

Emir wants to believe him, but how can he? Emir was so blind for so long to the suffering Reyhan had to endure. He could never see past his anger to the truth. He could never trust her, every little whisper from his mother making him doubt what his heart was telling him.

"I loved her for so long," Emir quietly admits. "Almost as long as I've known her.That first day I saw her, it was like I was sucker punched. I could barely breathe, she was so beautiful. So pure. Like an angel."

But he was spoiled. Entitled. Used to getting his own way. He was angry his father had the nerve to try to dictate his life and force him to marry. Angry that Reyhan sided with his father and also insisted on marrying him. So he rebelled. And for so long, he gave Reyhan a hard time because he just couldn't figure out how _not_ to love her. Everything she did made him fall more and more in love with her. Even though he didn't want to want her.

"They wanted me to hate her. To not trust her. They wanted me to believe she was only with me for my money. And when she refused to leave, they decided to make her life miserable. Do you know my mother came up with this ridiculous plot once? It was at the very beginning of our marriage. We couldn't have been married more than a week when it happened. I came home from work and found Reyhan unconscious on our bedroom floor. My mother had apparently slammed Reyhan's head into a wall. But Reyhan kept it a secret. She claimed her pressure dropped and she passed out. I didn't think anything more of it. It was over. Done. But for no reason at all, my mother had Nigar tell my father about what happened. My father blamed my mother. My mother put on this whole show about how Reyhan lied about the whole thing in order to cause trouble in the house. Then she made me force Reyhan to apologize to her for slandering her. All the while knowing it was actually true."

Emir lets out a pained chuckle at the look of disbelief on Kemal's face. This situation is far from funny. But all he can do is look back on it all and laugh at how stupid he was.

"That was the first week, Amca. It terrifies me to think of what else Reyhan has been through since then that I don't know about. The things we do know about are bad enough. And we wouldn't know about any of that without your nanny cam. That's how sneaky my mother is. She's hidden this evil side from me this whole time."

"Thanks to the nanny cam, we know the truth about what happened in that room today," Kemal says. "Cemre won't get away with anything. Even though both Cemre and your mother are claiming Reyhan was the aggressor, the nanny cam footage tells the true story."

Emir just shakes his head.

"I shouldn't be surprised, but I am. They're never going to stop. Which is why I have to stop them."

"What are you going to do?" Kemal asks. "Cemre will more than likely end up in a mental institution. She had even more of a breakdown when she learned her mother was in a coma because of what she did. I don't think she's ever getting out. So that just leaves your mother. What do we do about her?"


	16. Chapter 16

_"What do we do about your mother?"_

Even hours later, Emir ponders the question Kemal had asked him, but still has no answer. His mother belongs in jail after all she's done. Emir is tempted to just let the police take her away so that he never has to see her again. But he has to think of the family. He has to think of what this would do to Suna. To his father. What would become of the Holding and the Tarhun name? But mostly he hesitates because he knows it's not what Reyhan would want. His tender hearted wife would feel way more guilt than is necessary if his mother went to jail. She'd blame herself and Emir won't let her take on that burden.

But Emir can't let his mother stay. She's hurt them too many times.

"I'm not going to let her hurt you again, my love," he says, placing a gentle kiss on Reyhan's hand.

He feels a squeeze in response.

"Reyhan?"

She squeezes again and his heart leaps with joy.

"That's it. Come on now. Wake up for me, Baby."

Her eyes start to flutter and once they open, she squints at the brightness. Immediately he gets up to turn the lights down for her, leaving on only a bedside lamp.

"Hey!" he says as he watches her adorably blink open her eyes. "You're finally awake."

"What happened?" she asks groggily, looking around to see where she is. "Hospital?"

"You're going to be just fine," he assures her, helping her sit up when she begins to try on her own. He reaches over and grabs the remote that controls the bed and lifts her just a bit, enough to make her comfortable.

"What am I doing here?" she asks him.

"What do you remember?"

She lifts a hand to her forehead and massages her temples when a sharp pain hits.

"Headache?"

She just nods at his question.

"The doctor said that might be the case when you wake up. Here," he says, giving her a glass of water to sip on. "Drink this and I'll go get a nurse. They need to know you're awake."

Reyhan takes the glass from him and starts taking small sips of the water while she thinks. She remembers Emir leaving for work and then going to see her uncle. She remembers Cavidan and ...

"Cemre," she gasps as the memories fully return. She looks up when Emir comes back into the room, a nurse following close behind. "Cemre was there. She held us hostage. She tried to kill your mother. "

The nurse does a check of Reyhan's vitals and checks the status of all the fluids and medication in her IV.

"She has a headache," Emir mentions to the woman, and she jots it down in Reyhan's chart.

"I'll let the doctor know and let her know that you're awake, Reyhan hanım. She'll be in to see you in a few minutes."

"Thank you," Reyhan says, giving the nurse a small smile.

Emir returns to his seat right next to the bed after the nurse leaves.

"Did you hear what I said? Cemre was there. She was trying to hurt your mother."

"I know," he sighs, taking her hand. "We saw everything through the nanny cam. I was so terrified and felt so helpless. We got to the house as soon as we could, but it was too late."

"Your mom?" Reyhan asks in a panic.

Emir has a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact that Reyhan can still be worried about his mother when his mother has very little regard for Reyhan.

"She's fine. Just a little bruised. Don't worry."

Emir actually spoke to Cavidan's doctor. Since she was unconscious when they all got to the house, the ambulance transported her to the hospital as well. She just had some minor bruising around her neck where Cemre strangled her. But Cavidan, being Cavidan, managed to manipulate the doctor into admitting her for an overnight stay. The last he checked, she was sleeping peacefully. Guilt free. Acting like the victim when in reality, she was neck deep in everything that took place

"And Cemre?"

Reyhan's question brings him back to the present.

"Back in police custody. You're safe from her," Emir assures her. "She can't hurt us any more."

Reyhan lets out a sigh and leans her head back onto her pillow. It's a relief to hear that it's over. Finally over. It's been so long. She's endured so much. It's a miracle she survived it all. A miracle her love for Emir has survived. Cemre and Cavidan did everything in their power to break them. But they made it.

"Is it actually over?" she asks warily. "Are we finally free?"

"It's over," he answers, a huge smile growing on his face. "There's nothing else they can do to us."

He leans over and kisses her. Soft kisses that start on her cheeks, but end up on her lips.

"Emir," she scolds him shyly. "Not here. Someone could walk in."

"No one is coming in here."

He tries to kiss her again, but she puts her hand over his mouth.

"Emir! Behave!"

"I am. This is perfectly acceptable behavior for a man who thought he was going to lose his wife not too long ago and who's now very grateful that she's alive and well and sitting in front of him, scolding him with perfectly kissable lips."

"Emir," she says again, but this time it comes out more as a sigh and the blush in her cheeks lets him know he's wearing her down.

"Just one little kiss." He pouts and it makes her laugh.

"You're impossible," she giggles, knowing she's powerless to stop him.

"But you love me."

Yeah, she thinks to herself. She really does love him.

She closes her eyes when he leans in to kiss her, but the sound of the door opening interrupts them. Even though she was protesting the kiss earlier, now she protests him stopping.

The fire in his eyes as he glares at the person who dares to enter is scary and she almost feels bad for the person. Almost. She really wanted that kiss.

"Can I help you?" he snaps, definitely harsher than he should.

She understands his frustration. But the two men in the police uniform probably won't understand. She takes Emir's hand in her own to calm him down.

"Reyhan Tarhun?"

"That's me. What can I do for you?"

She looks at Emir, confused at why the police would be coming to see her. She can tell that Emir doesn't have any more answers than she does.

"What's this about, Officer?" Emir asks. "My uncle and I have already spoken to the police. We were told we could bring Reyhan in for her statement in a few days, once she recovered a bit more."

"That will no longer be possible."

A third man walks in and Emir is surprised to see that it's the police commissioner. But he's even more surprised to see who's with him.

"Anne?"

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"What are any of you doing here?" Emir asks, the confused look on his face making it evident he has no idea what's going on. Cavidan hates that it's come down to this. She hates that she's had to use a favor that was owed to her by the police commissioner on this peasant. But she wants Reyhan gone. And she's desperate now.

The idea came to her while she was in her hospital bed, watching the police officers guard her door. She had already given her statement and stuck with the story she knew Cemre had already given the police. Both Cemre and Cavidan placed the blame solely on Reyhan. But as far as she knows, there's been no action to arrest Reyhan yet.

But then she remembered the favor she had yet to cash in on with the police commissioner. When Cavidan first came from her slum and started her ascent to the wealthy class, the commissioner was a potential husband. He had money, but not enough to suit her purposes at that time. Nevertheless, they remained friendly and once Tarhun Holdings was on the rise, she gave the commissioner a tip on when to invest and made him a ton of money. He promised her a favor then that Cavidan is using now.

"I called him, Son," Cavidan admits. "We don't want to trust some lowly detective to handle this case with the delicacy and discretion we need. I thought this way would be better for the family. Reyhan will be quietly arrested and taken away without causing too much scandal for the family."

"Arrested?" Reyhan cries. "Emir, what is she talking about?"

He grabs her hand and holds on tight.

"No one is taking my wife anywhere," he growls, sending warning glares at them all. "Reyhan did nothing to be arrested for."

"I think trying to kill your mother would be a very good reason," the commissioner says. "I've seen the testimonies given by your mother and Cemre. And I don't know why Reyhan hasn't been arrested yet. But this is a pretty cut and dried case. We have two people giving the same testimony about your wife. And we've been told that this probably isn't the first time she's done something like this. Your mother told us about her shooting a few months ago. And how no one really believed your father set it up, even though he admitted to it. It's clear now that he was trying to protect Reyhan."

"Oh really," Emir says, turning a heated glare at his mother. "Is this how you're going to play this, Anne? Are you really going to stand there and pretend that Reyhan is the guilty one?"

"I'm not pretending, Emir," Cavidan claims. "Son, you weren't there. I was there. Cemre was there. And we're both saying the same thing. I don't know what she told you happened, but it simply isn't true. I'm sorry if you can't accept it, but your wife isn't the woman you think she is."

"No, what I've actually come to accept is that my wife isn't the woman you tried to make me believe she was," Emir says with an exhausted sigh. "And that you're the one who's nothing like I thought."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cavidan asks. "I'm your mother, Emir. You know exactly who I am."

"It means I'm tired and I'm disappointed. My wife is tired and doesn't need this. I didn't want to get into this now, but you've forced the issue." He gives Cavidan one last sad look. "Just remember that you brought this on yourself."

Cavidan doesn't know what to say, so she doesn't say anything. Instead, she turns and gives Reyhan a smug look. Emir steps outside the room to make a call and invites the commissioner and the officers to go with him. So Cavidan is left alone with Reyhan.

"Don't do this, Cavidan hanım," Reyhan begs. "Don't make Emir choose this."

"Please," Cavidan scoffs, rolling her eyes for good measure. "It was never a choice. I'm his mother. You're just some woman his father forced him to marry. Of course he's going to choose me."

"Why are you doing this? Why can't we just live peacefully? I love Emir and Emir loves me. Don't you want him to be happy?"

"You don't make him happy. You've messed with his mind and confused him. Once he gets you out of his system, he'll see that you were never right for him. He'll be able to marry someone more suitable."

"Someone _you_ deem suitable, you mean," Reyhan corrects. "It doesn't matter to you that Emir chooses me. That he loves me. But you'd rather he be with someone like Cemre. A woman who just tried to kill you!"

Cavidan doesn't want to admit that Reyhan has a point. Cemre was a serious error in judgement. But only because the girl is just plain crazy. Her obsession with Emir made her unstable in ways Cavidan couldn't predict. She'll be more careful with her next choice.

"Cemre is no longer an issue. She's going to be locked away where she belongs," Cavidan tells her. If she ever gets out of the psychiatric hospital, then she'll be headed straight to prison for everything she's done."

"Everything she's done with you and for you," Reyhan adds. "You have been a willing partner in all of her crimes."

"Nothing that anyone can prove," Cavidan says with a carefree shrug. "I don't know why you haven't learned by now. You can't beat me, my dear soon to be ex daughter in law. No matter what you say to Emir about what happened today, it will always be your word against mine and Cemre's. Emir will never fully believe you. Or trust you. And for trying to kill his mother? He'll never forgive that."

"You know that's not what happened! You know I didn't try to kill you," Reyhan cries, upset by the lies.

Reyhan's tears are satisfying to Cavidan. The girl finally seems to be understanding that she has lost this game, once and for all.

"And _you know_ that you will never be able to prove it," Cavidan gloats.

"Prove what, Anne?"

Cavidan notices Emir standing in the doorway and curses to herself over her carelessness. She wonders how much he overheard and prepares to deny everything. She isn't too concerned though. He'll believe her. He always believes her. Just like she just told Reyhan, there is never a choice to make. Emir will always choose his mother. Cavidan will always win.

The look in his eye worries her, though. A small voice deep inside her tells her to be wary. But she doesn't listen to that voice. She completely ignores the quiet warning in the back of her mind telling her that this time will be different. When she thinks back on this moment, she'll wish she had listened.


	17. Chapter 17

_"You have been a willing partner in all of her crimes."_

Reyhan's words cause Emir's hand to pause on the door just as he's about to step back into the room. This conversation between Reyhan and his mother seems like one that doesn't need to be interrupted.

Anger does not even begin to describe how Emir is feeling right now. But he's also confused at how his mother can be like this. She hasn't always been this way ... has she? He could not have been raised by a woman like this and not known ... could he? He doesn't know what to think anymore. Or believe.

_"Nothing that anyone can prove,"_ he hears his mother say. _"I don't know why you haven't learned by now. You can't beat me, my dear soon to be ex daughter in law. No matter what you say to Emir about what happened today, it will always be your word against mine and Cemre's. Emir will never fully believe you."_

Emir hates to admit that she's right. Without the nanny cam Kemal set up, nothing could have ever made him believe his mother would outright lie and scheme like this. And it's not so much him not believing Reyhan. It's more him not believing that anyone, especially his own mother, could be capable of the evil she's done to Reyhan. Even going so far as to lie in order to get Reyhan arrested. That fortunately had been cleared up easy enough, thanks again to the nanny cam footage. Once the commissioner saw the recording of the incident, he realized Cavidan had played him and assured Emir that Reyhan was safe. The matter was dropped after many apologies.

But that leaves Emir to handle his mother.

_"You know that's not what happened! You know I didn't try to kill you."_

Reyhan is crying now and Emir can no longer just stand by listening to his mother's lies.

_"And you know that you will never be able to prove it,"_ he hears Cavidan say just as he steps into the room. Time to stop this once and for all.

"Prove what, Anne?"

Cavidan notices Emir standing in the doorway and curses to herself over her carelessness. She quickly schools her features before turning around. The smug grin is replaced by the worried gaze of a matriarch just trying to do what's best for her family.

"Emir, Son." Cavidan walks over to him and places a hand on his chest. "I know this hurts, but I trust you're about to do the right thing for this family. Reyhan simply cannot stay in the mansion. She's proven to be too dangerous."

Cavidan looks around and is surprised to see the commissioner and his officers missing. She starts to worry. Did Emir convince them to not arrest Reyhan? She may have to leak the story to the press to push the issue.

"What were you saying about proof?" he asks again. He steps away from Cavidan, not even wanting her to touch him. He moves next to Reyhan instead, taking her hand as a lifeline.

Cavidan can't hide her sneer at the sight of Emir touching her. That girl has tainted her son for far too long.

"Proof of ...." Cavidan starts, but can't think of a lie fast enough. Proof of what? She tries to quickly think of a way to cover what she just said to Reyhan without incriminating herself. "Um, proof that..."

Emir holds up a hand to stop her.

"No more, Anne," Emir says with an exhausted sigh. "This probably isn't what you meant, but how about we take a look at my proof. Let's just end this right here, right now."

Emir pulls his phone out of his pocket and plays the video he already has queued. Cavidan's heart stops when she recognizes the scenario playing out on the screen.

_"You two are in this together," Reyhan realizes, turning to stare at Cavidan. "You let her into this house, you made sure we were alone, and then you lured me in here."_

_"Well now," Cemre laughs. "I guess you're not as dumb as you look. She may be even smarter than you, Cavidan teyze."_

_"Never," Cavidan scoffs. "Now set me free, Kızım. You got who you came for. I don't want any part in this plan any longer. Take her. Kill her. Do whatever. Just do it away from here."_

It's all there. Every incriminating minute with Cemre. The moment they knocked Reyhan out. When they tied her up. Their entire plan. Everything. There's no talking her way out of this. All the saliva dries from her mouth and she finds herself having trouble swallowing.

"Oğlum," she says, her voice shaking, her throat scratchy.

"Don't call me that," he says, holding up his hand again. "Don't stand there and call me 'Son' out of the same mouth you just lied to me. And the police. All with the express purpose of having my wife put in jail!"

"Oğlum ... Emir," she quickly corrects herself when he growls at her. "This isn't what you think."

"Oh really? Because what I think is that you deliberately lied to the police and made them believe Reyhan attacked you. And when the police didn't do what you wanted, you went over their heads to the commissioner and called in a favor to have him arrest Reyhan himself."

"You've misunderstood," Cavidan tries to explain again. "This isn't what it seems. I was scared for my life and just going along with Cemre."

Emir lets out an angry grunt.

"More lies," he yells, causing Reyhan to squeeze his hand even tighter. She rubs her other hand up his arm and tries to calm him.

"Emir. Relax," she says quietly.

"Let's go somewhere and discuss this," Cavidan suggests, sending an angry glare towards Reyhan. "Somewhere _she_ can't influence you. I'm your mother, Emir. You have to listen to me. You have to believe me. I only do what's best for you."

"What's best for me?" he asks, his voice raising in disbelief. "You think it's best for me to try to take my wife away? To try to kill my father?"

Emir switches to another video clip and Cavidan gasps at the replay of the day she beat Reyhan and stabbed Hikmet.

_"Please," Reyhan begs again. "I didn't do anything."_

_"Wrong answer! You stabbed your uncle. Then you made Nigar and Sefer lie for you. That is what you're going to tell Emir." Cavidan kicks at her again._

_"I'm not going to lie to him," Reyhan sobs, blocking the next kick._

_"Oh really? You lied to him before to get him to divorce you," Cavidan sneers, laughing at Reyhan's look of surprise. "Yes, I know all about your deal with Cemre. You can't think she was smart enough to come up with that plan."_

_"You're a part of this? A part of sending your son to jail?" Reyhan gasps, partly from disbelief, partly from the pain from her injuries._

_"Please," Cavidan scoffs. "I knew good and well you would never allow that. Just like I know good and well you're going to confess to Emir that you stabbed your uncle. Even if to only stop me from doing this again. And again. And again." Each again is punctuated by yet another stab into Hikmet._

"How ..." she tries to ask, but can't get the words to come. _How is he seeing this_ , she wonders. How are her words coming back to haunt her? She looks up questioningly at him.

"I was worried about Baba, so I had a Nanny Cam installed to watch over him," Emir explains. "Imagine my surprise when it exposed my own mother and so many of her terrible deeds."

"Son, I ..."

"Are you seriously still trying to lie? Are you still going to try to make me believe you haven't done anything I've seen you do with my own eyes?"

Cavidan closes her eyes as the tears come. She can only shake her head as an answer to his question.

"What did Reyhan ever do to you except love me? What did she do to deserves the months of torture and torment? All the tricks to drive her away? All the lies to make me doubt her? The more we loved each other, the worse you did to us. Even after Reyhan risked her own life to save yours, you still lied and tried to have her arrested."

"My only concern is you, Emir," Cavidan says through her tears. "You are my son and I was only trying to save you from her. She was going to make you send me away! From my own home! I couldn't allow that. So yes, I admit it. When Cemre showed up, I went along with her plan because all I wanted was to get rid of that woman you married who turned you against me!"

"You are sick, Anne. You are poison," Emir tells her, shocked at her admission. "Your hate has brought a dark cloud of misery over this family and I can't stand by any longer and let you treat my marriage like a game. I love Reyhan with everything that's in me. And one day we're going to have children. I'm going to have to answer to them for how I let you treat their mother."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you were right to be worried. When you walk out that door, that's it. You're leaving our life. For good."

"What?" Cavidan gasps. She grabs onto Emir's arm as he walks past her to open the door, calling for the men waiting outside. "What are you doing? Where are you sending me? Are you going to let them arrest me? Are you going to let them put me in jail?"

"You can take her now," Emir tells the men, completely ignoring Cavidan's questions and pleas.

Tears stream down his face as they drag her off, kicking and screaming. She goes silent once outside the room, once they drug her. Emir knew she wouldn't go quietly and told them sedation would probably be necessary. Looks like they took his advice.

"Where did you send her?" Reyhan asks. "Are you really letting them arrest her?"

He shakes his head.

"She's my problem," he says. "I can't make the taxpayers pay for her imprisonment. She's going abroad and then will have her passport confiscated. She won't be able to come back to Istanbul for a long time. If ever."

_Exile_ , Reyhan thinks to herself, letting out a heavy sigh. What a shame it's come down to this. She's relieved it's all finally over, but she's more worried right now about how it's affecting him.

"Are you okay?" She's sad for him, for what his mother forced him to do. She wants to go to him, comfort him. But it's a struggle for her to even sit up in the bed. The drug she was given is still affecting parts of her body, making it difficult to move. He notices her struggle and comes next to her, taking the comfort she's offering.

"This was the only way," he says with a shrug. "She's never going to change. She's always going to find a reason to punish you and try to take you away from me. Losing you again would kill me."

"But she's your mother, your family," Reyhan says, wiping away her own tears now. "She ..."

Emir silences her with a kiss.

"You, Reyhan, are my family. You're my everything. And for too long I let Cemre and my mother hurt you. But no more. It's over. Neither of them can hurt you ever again. We won't be seeing either one of them ever again. We can finally live our life and be happy."

"I've always been happy with you," she tells him, cupping his cheek with her hand. "You are my everything too, Emir."

She left home a lonely girl, never imagining she'd find a love like this. She came to this house as a vow made to her uncle, never dreaming she'd find the other half of her heart. But despite all the heartache and all of the pain, this amazing man has made her soul complete. As far as fairy tales go, this is one she will be telling their children for years to come.

"It's hard to believe we're getting our happy ending," she says.

He just smiles and kisses her again. One of those kisses that makes her melt and forget where she is.

"This isn't an ending," he says, making his point with yet another kiss. "This, sevgilim, is where we finally begin."

She falls into his arms and lets out a sigh of relief that's been almost a year in the making. Here's to new beginnings. 


	18. Chapter 18

_Epilogue_

"What did I tell you?" Nigar says, a huge grin on her face. "Nine months to the day."

Meilke just shakes her head before turning her attention to the warm, soft bundle in her arms. She leans down and takes a deep breath, taking in that wonderful baby scent.

"It's my turn," Suna says, reaching for her nephew.

Reyhan watches Nigar, Melike and Suna all melt over her son and she can't help but smile. She can't help but be amazed at the way her life has changed in the past year. Exactly one year ago, she thought her life was over when Cemre blackmailed her into divorcing Emir. But things change. Life changes. The bad are punished and the faithful are rewarded. It's what she always believed and now, she's living her reward. Finally, good is winning.

Another smile comes to her when her uncle rolls his chair closer to her. Time, experimental treatments, a lot of physical therapy, and even more faith has him able to fully use the right side of his body. He's now able to get himself around using a motorized wheelchair similar to the one Suna used to have.

"Did you come out to see your grandson, Dayı?" she asks him, taking his left hand in hers.

"Baba," he says, his speech still limited.

But just hearing that one word from him is enough to make her day. And she corrects herself.

"Baba," she says with a gentle smile. "Did you come out to see your grandson, Baba?"

He still has a ways to go, but she's grateful for the progress he's made so far. Suna brings the baby over and sets him on Hikmet's good side. Unexpected tears prick her heart at the sight. She turns away to blink away the salty droplets threatening to escape.

But just then, a pair of warm arms surrounds her and pulls her to him. She melts into her husband, into the peace and happiness he always brings.

"Are you okay?" Emir whispers in her ear.

"Iyiyim. I'm good," she nods, letting out a contented sigh. "I'm happy. More happy than I ever thought I could be. You were right. Last year at the hospital wasn't an ending. It was just the beginning."

"Everyday will be filled with happiness," he promises. "Everyday will be a new beginning."

She smiles, then kisses him. She suddenly can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

_The end._

Thanks again for joining me on this journey! I appreciate all the votes, kudos, and support. I'll be back soon with another story!


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